Arlington Heights Man Pleads No Contest in Hatchet Killing of Wife

An Arlington Heights man who tracked his estranged wife to Wisconsin and killed her with a hatchet will appear before a judge in July for a decision on whether he's mentally ill.

On Friday, Cristian Loga-Negru, 39, entered a no-contest plea to first-degree intentional homicide. Charges of mayhem and kidnapping were dismissed in a plea deal. Loga-Negru took his wife from the Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, home where she had been hiding for about a month, drove her to a motel parking lot and killed her with a hatchet on Nov. 21, 2014.

He chopped her in the head and face, according to autopsy results.

Roxana Abrudan, 36, separated from her husband and obtained an order of protection against him, then fled to her boss's home in Wisconsin to hide. They had only been married for a few months, but immediately Abrudan realized the marriage was a mistake and her husband was violent. Arlington Heights Police went to the home at least three times on domestic abuse calls.

Loga-Negru waived his right to a jury trial on the question of mental competence. Instead, Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz will hear the case and determine if Loga-Negru had a mental illness or another condition that led to him being unable to understand his actions. Loga-Negru, if found mentally competent, could spend the rest of his life in prison.

His own lawyer said he is mentally competent at this time. The court proceeding is scheduled to begin July 11.

Neighbors in Arlington Heights told NBC Chicago at the time of the killing that Loga-Negru wasn’t a very nice person to live near and everyone knew the marriage was turbulent.

“Everyone in the building, they say hi to each other and stuff,” neighbor Stephanie Gomez told the TV news reporter. “We are all civil, and this guy was just there. He was just rude.”

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