A 36-year-old tenant sent text messages from the phone belonging to her landlord, whose dismembered remains were later found in the victim’s freezer on the Far North Side, directing other renters to give the tenant their keys if they move out and take care of the landlord’s dog, prosecutors said Thursday.
Sandra Kolalou appeared before Cook County Judge Kelly McCarthy, who denied bail during a hearing that was livestreamed on YouTube. Kolalou was charged with murder, concealment of a homicide, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
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The body of Frances Walker was found Monday in a residence in the 5900 block of North Washtenaw Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office and Chicago police. A Wednesday autopsy on Walker, 69, was inconclusive and pending further studies, according to the medical examiner’s office.
In court, Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord Rodgers said that in July, Kolalou moved into a first-floor room at the home on Washtenaw, where a total of five tenants lived and paid rent to Walker, who also lived on the first floor.
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Walker began receiving complaints about Kolalou, so on Oct. 7, Walker changed the locks on doors in a basement unit to prevent Kolalou from going into the basement. But after grievances continued, Walker posted an eviction notice on Kolalou’s door on Oct. 9, and at 11 p.m. that night, Kolalou and Walker were seen arguing about the notice, McCord Rodgers said.
At about 2:30 a.m., other tenants heard “loud bangs,” the two arguing again on the first floor, something that sounded like a “dish hitting the floor” and Walker “screaming,” McCord Rodgers said.
The last time they heard Walker’s voice she was “trying to calm the defendant down” so the tenants began texting Walker to see if she was OK. Between 3:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. they heard one person “pacing,” furniture being moved and “scratching” noises, McCord Rodgers said.
About 6 a.m. the other tenants began getting text messages from Walker’s phone, which directed them to give their keys to Kolalou if they moved out and to take care of Walker’s dog, which they found “extremely unusual.”
Police were called about noon and officers spoke to the basement tenant and about 5:50 p.m. one of the tenants filed a missing persons report and police came out again.
Officers knocked on windows and asked Walker to come outside but there was no response. Around that same time, Kolalou called a tow truck and asked the driver to take her to Foster Beach, where her disabled car was parked, McCord Rodgers said.
At 6 p.m., Kolalou left the home with a large black garbage bag but while police spoke to her, a witness peeked inside the black bag and saw white plastic bags that were tied, McCord Rodgers said. The witness reached inside and felt something “heavy” like “sand,” according to McCord Rodgers.
Police, who did not find anything incriminating, released her but one of the witnesses talked to the tow truck driver, who gave out his business cards, and they drove away, McCord Rodgers said. Minutes later, one of the witnesses called the driver and told him to “be careful,” McCord Rodgers said.
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The tow truck driver watched Kolalou as she placed the black bag into a garbage can, and the driver called the witness and relayed what he saw her do with the bag.
That was when the tow truck driver took Kolalou and her vehicle to a mechanic shop while witnesses went to the beach with police, grabbed the bag and found “blood-soaked rags” and pooled blood, according to McCord Rodgers.
While the tow truck driver was still at the mechanic shop with Kolalou, he was alerted that blood was found in the bags, and police asked him to “stall her.” The mechanics decided not to service the car, McCord Rodgers said.
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At that point, the driver, who was paid with Walker’s credit card, drove Kolalou to Western and Elston avenues, but refused to take her anywhere else. Kolalou, apparently angered, pulled a red-handled knife causing the driver to defend himself with a stick, McCord Rodgers said.
During the execution of a search warrant, Walker’s severed head and dismembered arms and legs were found in a freezer at the Washtenaw home but her torso has not been located, said McCord Rodgers.
Additional blood, as well as the victim’s phone, were found in Kolalou’s bedroom and she was placed in custody, prosecutors said.
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Kolalou has three misdemeanor convictions: a 2017 DUI, a 2014 theft that was reduced to forgery and a 2012 battery that was amended down from domestic battery, prosecutors said.
An assistant public defender appointed to Kolalou said the case was “largely circumstantial,” there were no eyewitnesses, and there is “no indication of whose blood was found where,” because the testing was not yet completed. She said Kolalou “strenuously denies” the charges, and has been employed recently in customer service and marketing and in the past as a home health care worker.
Kolalou is due back in court Oct. 31.
