By Sarah Tinoco
A Dominican University MBA student has been charged with first degree intentional homicide, kidnapping and mayhem after allegedly attacking and killing his wife with a hatchet.
Cristian Loga-Negru, 38 of Arlington Heights, Ill., attacked his wife, Roxana Abrudan 36, around 8:20 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19 after tracking her down at a friend’s house in Mount Pleasant, Wisc.
Abrudan had been hiding at the friend’s house in Racine Country for almost a month, seeking protection from Loga-Negru.
After waiting for Abrudan outside the house, Loga-Negru allegedly attacked the woman with a hatchet, striking her head, face and body. Loga-Negru then dragged Abrudan across the front lawn, placed her in his car and drove off, police said.
Within minutes, police received a call about an injured woman at a nearby Super 8 motel. Police found Abrudan in the back seat of Loga-Negru’s car, laboriously breathing and covered in blood with severe gashes to her head, body and her right hand sliced down the middle. Loga-Negru was standing nearby outside the motel with a gash to his left kneecap and his clothes soaked in blood. According to police, when they found Loga-Negru, he requested the death penalty immediately.
Abrudan was airlifted to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee where she was pronounced dead around 10 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
His father had been waiting in the room at the Super 8 motel. Loga-Negru had told his father he would be back in an hour. When he returned and his father saw him covered in blood, he asked what happened. Loga-Negru replied, “I killed Roxana.”
Police found a Romanian passport and Romanian ID cards in the motel room, as well as a receipt from a gun shop in Caledonia, Wisc. from Nov. 18, showing that Loga-Negru attempted to purchase a .40 caliber pistol but did not obtain possession of the firearm.
Arlington Heights police said they were familiar with Loga-Negru and Abrudan, having visited the couple’s residence several times in the past few months since their July 14 wedding. Police said Loga-Negru began abusing Abrudan only about a month into their marriage.
On Nov. 3, Abrudan filed an order of protection against Loga-Negru. A court hearing for the couple was scheduled for Monday, Nov. 24.
Racine County District Attorney Richard Chiapete said the homicide was especially tragic because Abrudan did everything she should have done in an ongoing situation of domestic violence.
In court, Chiapete said: “She reported domestic violence…she had a restraining order in the state of Illinois, she fled the state of Illinois, and she hid from him. [Loga-Negru] clearly had intent to do what he did.”
According to Ukrainian news reports, Loga-Negru and Abrudan were both from the same area of Translvania, Romania.
Cook County court records revealed that prior to Loga-Negru and Abrudan’s July wedding, Loga-Negru had finalized his second divorce in April from a woman he had married in 2010. Records showed that prior to Loga-Negru’s 2010 marriage that same year, he finalized his first divorce. Court records also showed that Abrudan had finalized a previous divorce in January.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Loga-Negru is the president of his company Monetarial LLC., a financial services company.
Loga-Negru has been an MBA student at Dominican since 2012 and was expected to complete his masters in finance in 2015. He has since been suspended from the school pending the outcome of a conduct hearing. Faculty of the Brennan School of Business declined comment.
Loga-Negru is being held without bond. He is scheduled to appear in court for a competency hearing on December 11 in Racine County, Wisc.
tinosara@my.dom.edu