More than 500 people turned out Wednesday night at a high school gymnasium for a public forum about a cluster of violence in Hanover Park, Ill., a northwest Chicago suburb. The four homicides have set the town on edge, reports the Chicago Tribune. The most recent case involved a “lifelong crack addict” who burglarized a home to finance his addiction and stabbing a woman there to death, prosecutors said.
The suspect, Ronald O’Rourke, 46, was ordered held without bond. The victim was Pamela Howat, 51, whose body was discovered by her son early Saturday evening with nine or 10 stab wounds. She and O’Rourke were acquaintances at a former workplace. (The Chicago Tribune story link includes video from the town forum.)