April 11--Chicago police stumbled upon a homicide scene after a chance encounter with a woman's alleged killer on an elevator ride up to the victim's Northwest Side apartment to tell her that her stolen vehicle had been found, Cook County prosecutors said Friday.
Robert Hill had a large garbage can with him during the elevator ride on Wednesday, prosecutors said.
After they all exited on the fourth floor, officers found the door open to Sandra Fellows' apartment and asked Hill, her boyfriend, where she was, telling him they had found her vehicle, said Assistant State's Attorney Akash Vyas.
Hill allegedly told them that Fellows, 56, had died the night before. When the officers asked for paperwork showing Fellows was dead, Hill, 33, told them he was there "to dispose of the body," Vyas said.
Officers found Fellows' body lying face up on the floor inside her apartment, Vyas said. Hill told police he smothered her on Tuesday after she received money from a life-insurance policy without telling him, according to Vyas.
Vyas said Hill had yanked his girlfriend's dentures from her mouth during the struggle so she couldn't bite him.
After her death, Hill took Fellows' car to his mother's house in the Homan Square neighborhood, Vyas said. Fellows' granddaughter reported the car stolen. After police located the car, officers were dispatched to Fellows' apartment to tell her it had been recovered.
Fellows' goddaughter heard Hill yell at her the day before her body was found as she spoke with Fellows on the phone, Vyas said. Hill and Fellows then struggled over the phone before the call ended, he said.
Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil set bail at $3 million for Hill, of the 1400 block of South Hamlin Avenue.
sschmadeke@tribpub.com
