Police: Arlington Hts. husband kills estranged wife with hatchet in Wis.

MT. PLEASANT, Wis. (WLS) -- Police say an Arlington Heights man tracked his estranged wife to her friend's house in Wisconsin and attacked her with a hatchet after she had taken out a restraining order against him.

On Wednesday night, police say the woman, 36, pulled into the driveway of a friend's home in the 600-block of Calvin Lane in Mt. Pleasant, Wis., unaware that her husband was waiting nearby. Police say that he attacked her with a hatchet. A witness heard someone screaming and a body was seen being dragged across the front lawn to a vehicle before the suspect, 38, fled the area with the victim, police said.

He then put the victim in the backseat of a rental car and drove 1.5 miles to a motel where he had earlier booked a room, police said.

Multiple calls were made to 911, and police swarmed the Super 8 Motel at 1150 Oakes Rd. and took the man into custody without incident.

"They saw him right away, they also saw the female in the backseat, she was obviously injured severely. They placed him into arrest, he did not resist arrest," said Sgt. Eric Relich, Mt. Pleasant Police Dept.

Police took the severely injured woman from the backseat of the car and air-lifted her to a hospital in Milwaukee, where she was pronounced dead at 10 p.m.

Police haven't named the husband, but Racine County has Cristian Loga-Negru in custody and charged with first-degree murder, mayhem and kidnapping. He is due in court Friday afternoon.

Neighbors of the Arlington Heights couple say police responded to their apartment unit at least twice.

"The cop was inside the house, and it looks like something was wrong with them," said Miguel Gomez, neighbor.

"My uncle said he heard them at 3 in the morning, like yelling at each other in the middle of the hallway," said Stephanie Gomez, neighbor.

The woman had received a temporary order of protection against her husband that was to have become permanent in a hearing scheduled for next Monday.