Man faces murder charges in death of Hinsdale woman

HINSDALE (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Bail was denied Saturday for the man charged with killing a 51-year-old woman more than three weeks ago in her west suburban Hinsdale home.

Dominic Sanders, 30, was charged with first-degree murder, home invasion and armed robbery in connection with the death of Andrea Urban, according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s and sheriff’s offices.

At 3:37 p.m. May 4, officers responded to a home in the 700 block of Town Place after dispatchers received a 911 call about an unresponsive woman, Hinsdale police said.

Officers found Urban, a leukemia survivor and mother of two, lying dead on the kitchen floor with apparent knife wounds to her head and neck, authorities said.

Investigators learned that Sanders entered the house about 10 a.m. and, once he was inside, a fight ensued between him and Urban, the state’s attorney’s office said. During the fight, he struck her repeatedly and slashed her throat before running away.

Sanders, who lives in University Park, was eventually identified as the suspect and was arrested Thursday after an unrelated traffic violation in Will County, prosecutors said. He appeared Saturday morning before DuPage County Judge Michael Reidy, who ordered him held without bail. He is scheduled to appear in court again June 19 for an arraignment before Judge Daniel Guerin.

“The sheer brutality of this case is alarming and will be met with the full force of the law,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin said in a statement. “My sincerest condolences go out to Andrea’s family and friends, particularly her children, as they attempt to come to terms with this senseless crime.”

Urban’s two children, who lived with her at the home and attended local schools, were being cared for by relatives, police said.