Eric Murchinson / Sun-Times Media Wire
Eric Murchinson is suspected of robbing a west suburban Melrose Park bank last year and has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal 2013 stabbing of Aurelia Wilborn in the Roseland neighborhood that same day.
Murchinson, 44, who is in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, was charged Thursday with one felony count of first-degree murder in the July 2, 2013 stabbing death of the 64-year-old Wilborn at her home about 10:15 a.m. in the 10800 block of South Calumet Avenue, according to a statement from Chicago Police.
Officers responding to a well-being check on July 5 found Wilborn lying in a garage unresponsive with a stab wound to the throat, police said.
Wilborn was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:35 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. An autopsy performed the next day found that she died of an incise wound to the neck and her death was ruled a homicide.
Murchinson, of the 10900 block of South Edbrooke Avenue, is scheduled to appear in bond court Friday, police said.
The alleged stabbing happened within hours of a bank robbery in Melrose Park, authorities said.
Aurelia WIlborn
According to a federal criminal complaint filed that day in U.S. District Court in Chicago, a robber walked into the Fifth Third Bank branch at 2501 W. North Ave. in Melrose Park just after 10:30 a.m.
He approached a teller and inquired about purchasing a vehicle sticker, a statement from the FBI said at the time. He then demanded cash and indicated he had a weapon, although no weapon was shown. The teller handed over about $8,000 that he placed in a red bank bag before running out.
According to the complaint, three witnesses who were at the Hooters restaurant next door to the bank, saw a man run into the parking lot and approach a gray 4-door Lexus. The man was clutching a red bag to his chest and they saw a puff of red mist coming from the bag. He threw something from the bag, then got into the Lexus and drove away.
At the same time, the complaint said, a Melrose Park police officer at a Starbucks in the same strip mall heard about the robbery on his police radio. He met the witnesses, who pointed out the Lexus, which was stopped at the red light at 25th and North.
The officer ran toward the Lexus and drew his weapon. As he approached, he yelled through the open car windows for the driver to raise his hands. The driver raised his hands, but at the same time accelerated into the intersection, colliding with another car.
After the crash, police apprehended Murchinson, according to the complaint. He was the only person in the Lexus, in which police found a red bank bag and cash on the floor, covered in red dye.
Murchinson was turned over to the FBI and charged with one count of bank robbery and, if convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison, authorities said at the time.
-- Sun-Times Media Wire