Justice · Chatham investigationChatham strangulation assault: Woman found dead, landlord questionedAired October 24, 2026 at 1:11 AM UTCThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:07Police found a woman dead after a tenant reported a gunpoint sexual assault.0:11The 28-year-old tenant received hospital care.0:13Police say her landlord admitted killing a victim by strangulation.0:17The woman's medical cause of death and a decision on criminal charges are still0:20unresolved.0:21A friend called 911 at about 9.20 Thursday morning after the tenant said her0:25landlord had sexually assaulted her at gunpoint.0:28The reported attack happened in an apartment in the 8100 block of South Ellis Avenue0:33in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood.0:35That Thursday was October 22.0:37During the alleged attack, the tenant said she noticed another woman on a couch who0:42may be dead.0:43Her account led officers to check the apartment while she went to the hospital.0:46The tenant was taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital for medical attention, where a0:50sexual assault kit was administered.0:52Her name is being withheld.0:54The woman who received that care was 28.0:56The woman later found dead was 36.0:58Officers found the apartment door locked and nobody answered.1:01Fire department crews opened it.1:03Inside, they found the 36-year-old unresponsive on a living room couch.1:07She was unclothed and covered by a sheet.1:09She was pronounced dead at the scene through the University of Chicago Medical1:13Center.1:13Police say the 58-year-old landlord walked into the Grand Crossing District Police1:17Station around the time of the emergency call.1:20They say he admitted killing a victim by strangulation.1:23Detectives were questioning him the next day.1:26The admission was reportedly about the 36-year-old woman found in the apartment.1:30She remained unidentified in the October 23 account.1:33Police haven't said whether she died before the alleged sexual assault.1:36The tenant's allegation and the woman's death are separate parts of the1:40investigation.1:40The landlord had faced dozens of criminal cases in Cook County dating back to at1:44least 1985.1:45Some involved allegations of sexual violence or domestic battery.1:49His earlier guilty pleas and prison sentences provide background, but they don't1:53prove responsibility for either event now under investigation.1:57In 1987, he pleaded guilty to criminal sexual abuse and received probation.2:02Two weeks later, he was charged in another case.2:04In 1988, he pleaded guilty to two aggravated sexual offense counts and received six2:09years in state prison.2:10His later cases also brought prison time.2:13He pleaded guilty to armed robbery in 1992.2:16On the same day, he pleaded guilty to another violent felony.2:19The most recent proceeding identified in that history was a burglary guilty plea in2:242019.2:25The armed robbery plea brought a 10-year prison sentence.2:28The other violent felony plea brought two years in prison.2:32After the 2019 burglary plea, he received two years of probation.2:36He also served prison terms in separate arson, illegal gun possession, and2:40aggravated battery cases.2:42The aggravated battery case included attempted first-degree murder charges whose2:46outcome hasn't been specified.2:48Those earlier proceedings leave investigators with the same task now, determining2:52what happened inside the Ellis Avenue apartment.2:54The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office scheduled an autopsy for October 23.2:59The cause and manner of death haven't been confirmed.3:02Strangulation is the method described in the landlord's reported admission.3:06As of October 23, detectives were questioning the landlord as a person of interest,3:10and no charges had been announced.3:12Area 2 detectives were investigating the reported sexual assault and the woman's3:16death.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗