An Illinois woman is behind bars after police say she planned out, then killed her own parents inside their Arlington Heights home on Saturday.
ABC 7 reports that 43-year-old Deborah Jane Martin is accused of murdering her parents, 71-year-old Anne Martin and her husband, 72-year-old David Martin. The incident took place inside the elderly couple’s home off of South Derbyshire Lane.
According to court testimony on Monday afternoon, Anne called 911 at around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. The woman was apparently gasping for air and pleading for her daughter to stop.
“The 911 audio captures the defendant’s mother gasping for air and moaning. Within seconds of dispatch answering, sounds of movement are heard followed by the mother of the defendant gasping and pleading, ‘No Debbie,'” Lorna Amado-Chevlin with the Cook County State Attorney’s Office said.
Martin, who lived in the home with her parents, went to dinner with them Friday night, then abruptly left early and waited for them to arrive home. Later, as her father sat on a recliner, she allegedly approached him with a knife and slashed his throat. She stabbed mother at least seven times. Both victims made efforts to escape, police said.
By the time police arrived, both victims were dead.
Officers found David lying near the front door, with a blood trail behind him that led to his recliner, according to the Chicago Tribune. They found Anne’s lifeless body in the kitchen, with a phone sitting on the kitchen counter.
Authorities spotted the suspect walking down the stairs in the home, freshly showered. They detained her and found bloody clothes in her bedroom, along with a diary with previous entries that detailed her plans to kill her parents, according to court testimony.
They also found a knife in an upstairs bathroom, covered with a sheath, and Martin’s purse inside her bedroom. Inside her purse, authorities reportedly found a store receipt for a knife purchase, dated May 10.
“The journal excerpts included multiple entries including her intent to kill her parents, one as recent as June 2, 2019 – just days before this horrific murder,” Amado-Chevlin said.
Although Martin didn’t have a criminal record, police officers had been to the home on several occasion in the past for domestic disputes. None of the incidents involved violence.
So far, however, no motive has been discerned.
“It’s hard to determine what persuaded Deborah to take action against her parents at that particular time,” Pinnello said.
Martin is being held without bond on two counts of first-degree murder. She’s scheduled for an upcoming court appearance on June 27.
[Feature Photo: Deborah Jane Martin/Police Handout]
