Man awaits trial for pregnant woman's death


July 29, 2008Recommend

By STEWART WARREN SWARREN@SCN1.COM
JOLIET -- A man from Michoacan, Mexico, will be tried this fall for the September 2006 slaying of Regina De Los Santos and her unborn child.

The proceedings should take about a week to complete, said Dan Kennedy, the lawyer representing Hugo Sanchez.

De Los Santos, 23, was last seen alive by her husband on the morning of Sept. 9. When he returned from work, she was dead. There were signs of forced entry on the rear door of their home, Joliet police said.

De Los Santos was six months pregnant at the time of her death. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled to death after being stabbed multiple times.

Sanchez, 22, of 503 Kraker Ave., Joliet, was arrested in March 2007 by Joliet police and was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Sanchez is being held at the Will County Jail. He is not a U.S. citizen.

The young man appeared Monday morning in Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak's courtroom. Kennedy had subpoenaed six people to testify in trial, and he asked the judge to call the names to make sure they had come to court. They are family members and friends who were at a party with Sanchez on the day of the murder, Kennedy explained later.

Kennedy also expects the parents of Sanchez's girlfriend to testify during the trial. He plans to subpoena them, too.

The judge scheduled the trial to begin on Oct. 20. Sanchez will return to court at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 12 for a status hearing in the case.

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