After a two week trial, a DuPage County jury found Nicole Abusharif, 28, guilty of first degree murder of Rebecca Klein at their Villa Park home on March 15, 2007. Jury deliberations lasted approximately 13 hours spanning over Monday and Tuesday.
Klein, 32, was suffocated with a plastic garbage bag and stuffed in the trunk of her 1966 Ford Mustang. The vehicle was left in the garage of the home at 250 N. Harvard Ave., and was found the following day after Abusharif filed a missing person’s report. Abusharif was charged with Klein’s murder five days later.
“Today, justice was done in the memory of Rebecca Klein,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph Birkett stated in a release following the verdict. “This was a senseless murder of a wonderful person.”
Following the verdict, Abusharif's bond was revoked and she was taken into custody. Her next court date is scheduled for June 1 in front of Judge John Kinsella. Abusharif faces a sentence of 20 to 60 years in jail.
“Given her complete absence of remorse, deceit and flagrant perjury, we will be seeking a lengthy prison sentence,” Birkett said.
On Dec. 30, Robert Edwards was convicted of lying to police about details regarding Klein's murder. Edwards was sentenced to 75 days in the DuPage County jail's work release program and 30 months probation following a three-day trial in November.
After initially telling police they were only friends from work, Edwards later admitted he and Abusharif used drugs together and discussed having a three-way sexual encounter. He also lied to police about the last time he talked to her before the murder and about where he was on the night it occurred, prosecutors said.
-Staff writer Dan Petrella contributed to this report
