A South Shore woman was ordered held in detention Friday on charges that she fatally stabbed a mute cancer patient inside his apartment, struck him with a plank of wood and tried setting fire to his apartment last fall.
Before a judge at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, prosecutors said that surveillance cameras captured Catherine Perry, 34, first walking toward the victim’s apartment in the 7100 block of South East End Avenue on the afternoon of Oct. 14.
After about an hour inside victim Tony Landers’ apartment, video captured Perry leaving the rear of his home carrying items she hadn’t arrived with, including clothing and a black backpack, Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Pekara told Judge James V. Murphy III.
Perry, also of South Shore, faces first-degree murder charges, along with attempted arson, according to authorities.
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The next morning, Landers’ caregiver entered his unlocked apartment and found a bloody footprint that led to Landers’ body curled in the fetal position in the living room in a pool of blood near a wheelchair, Pekara told the court.
Amid the blood-splattered walls and items inside the home, police evidence technicians found a bloody 2-by-4 wooden plank that later tested positive for DNA from both the victim and Perry, authorities said.
Authorities also found a liquor bottle with burnt pieces of paper sticking out of the top that they believe was used to try to set the apartment ablaze. An analysis from the Illinois State Police crime laboratory also found Perry’s DNA on the bottle, authorities said.
An autopsy on Landers determined that he died of multiple sharp force injuries, but pathologists also noted blunt force injuries to his head along with the sharp force injuries to his neck, arms and torso, as well as two punctured lungs and a cut jugular vein, prosecutors said.
An eyewitness told authorities that on the day of the attack, they were at a bus stop at 71st Street and Jeffrey Boulevard with Perry, where Landers was selling items on the street. The unidentified witness briefly spoke with Perry and said they saw her interact with the victim. Landers had recently had his larynx removed and communicated nonverbally or through writing, according to prosecutors.
The victim left the bus stop first, with Perry leaving about 15 minutes later, authorities said. Hours later, the witness, who lived next door to the victim’s building, was on a back porch when they heard a commotion coming from Landers’ apartment just after surveillance captured Perry in the area, Pekara said.
At the time of Landers’ death, Perry — who has prior convictions for misdemeanor battery and aggravated battery to a police officer — was wanted on an arrest warrant for missing court on a retail theft charge, according to court records, though she wasn’t arrested until Tuesday.
While in custody, prosecutors said she denied knowing the victim or ever being in his apartment, but did identify herself in video still images, Pekara said.
Just after the slaying, Landers’ sister told WLS-TV that she found her brother’s body similar to how Pekara described the scene on Friday. Landers’ family said they looked after him, a lung cancer survivor who became mute after the larynx surgery. The victim’s family couldn’t be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
Judge Murphy approved the prosecution’s request to remand Perry to jail custody considering the strength of the DNA evidence, along with the video surveillance and the witness statement.
Perry is scheduled to return to court on May 6.
