Photo Courtesy of FOX 32 News
A neighbor’s concern led to a gruesome discovery by police on Chicago’s North Side.
FOX 32 Chicago reported that Francis Walker’s dismembered body was found inside her home on the 5900 block of Washtenaw Avenue on Monday. The 63-year-old woman’s murder was allegedly committed by her 36-year-old tenant, Sandra Kolalou. She was arrested on Wednesday after Kolalou reportedly chopped Williams up with a large butcher knife. Police found her body in the freezer.
Early Monday morning, tenants told the news outlet that they heard screams. They attempted to contact the victim via text and phone calls to ensure that she was safe. Someone responded, but it wasn’t Walker. It was Kolalou posing as the woman.
Tenants at the home called Chicago police when they didn’t see Walker, and she didn’t contact anyone.
“When the police arrived, that individual told the police there was another suspect who lived in the residence who the other tenants were afraid of. And that suspect had recently called a tow truck and carried a heavy bag out to the tow truck,” Brendan Deenihan, CPD Chief of Detectives, told FOX 32.
Police also said Kolalou paid for the tow truck with the landlord’s credit card. Another disturbing detail emerged when tenants told police they feared for the tow truck driver’s safety and warned him about Kolalou. The suspected killer advised the driver to take her to Foster Beach, a detail he shared with cops. And that’s where authorities discovered bloody rags from the crime scene.
“Many of the tenants who lived in this house were afraid of this individual,” Deenihan said.
When authorities questioned the suspect at the scene of the crime scene, Kolalou declined to talk to police, saying she knew her rights.
Neighbors who knew Williams said she was an avid gardener and a good person. She would work in her yard daily. They became suspicious after she hadn’t worked in her garden over the weekend.
“We just assumed she was sick because it’s flu season. And then we started to realize she wasn’t around and tried calling her. We received no text or call, and that’s when we thought something had happened,” neighbor Andy told the news outlet.
A neighbor, Miranda Castillo, said, “I know that she’s very friendly. She’s familiar with everybody else in the neighborhood.”
Kolalou was charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide.