Jim Ellberg met his wife, Mireille, when they worked together at a battery manufacturing plant in Geneva. At first they didn’t get along, but eventually they grew to like each other.

“We just hit it off,” said Jim Ellberg, 65. “I asked her out for a drink one night, but I found out she didn’t drink. ... She ordered a Shirley Temple.”

The couple, who married in 1975, were feeding animals in the parking lot of their West Chicago apartment complex in January 2006 when a 24-year-old man who also lived there severely beat them, believing they were descendants of Spanish conquistadors.

As he tried to get away in the couple’s truck, David Martinez-Villareal backed over the 71-year-old Mireille. She died from her injuries more than a year later at a Glendale Heights hospital.

Acting DuPage County Chief Judge George Bakalis ruled Friday that Martinez-Villareal is not guilty of the crime because he was legally insane at the time it occurred. He was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated vehicular hijacking, vehicular invasion and aggravated battery of a senior citizen.

Martinez-Villareal has a long history of mental illness and has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition marked by hallucinations, delusions and depression. He was off his medication at the time of the beating, authorities said.

Two mental health experts — one hired by the defense, the other hired by prosecutors — testified that Martinez-Villareal did not understand the seriousness of his actions because of his mental illness. He heard voices in his head telling him that he had to stop the couple from committing rapes and murders, according to a report prepared by one of the experts.

While the Ellberg family said Monday they understand the law left Bakalis no other choice than finding Martinez-Villareal not guilty by reason of insanity, they don’t agree with the ruling.

“The guy was medicated,” said Mark Ellberg, one of Jim’s two sons from a previous marriage. “He chose not to take his medication. I think there’s some responsibility on his part.”

Public defender Jeffrey York, who represented Martinez-Villareal, said he was satisfied with the judge’s decision because his client will receive the treatment he needs.

“I’m relieved,” York said.

Experts at the Illinois Department of Human Services now have 30 days to evaluate Martinez-Villareal and prepare a plan for his treatment. He most likely will be sent to a state mental health facility in Elgin, where he could spend up to 60 years, which is equal to the maximum sentence he would have faced if convicted.

“He certainly could be released earlier, but I don’t think that is likely,” York said.

Mireille, who went by the nickname Mimi, moved to the United States from France in the early 1960s. She was a dedicated animal lover and avid music fan. Among her favorite bands were the Rolling Stones and U2.

She and Jim were carrying out their daily routine of feeding animals from their pickup truck about 8 a.m. Jan. 8, 2006, near the Main Park Apartments on the 800 block of Main Street when Martinez-Villareal ran up to truck and began yelling at them.

“He was speaking Spanish,” Jim Ellberg said. “He walked up and said something, and I said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand.’”

Martinez-Villareal then reached into the truck through an open door and repeatedly punched Jim Ellberg in the face.

When Mireille Ellberg got out to help her husband, Martinez-Villareal beat her to the ground and kicked her several times. Jim tried to come to his wife’s defense, but Martinez-Villareal beat him to the ground as well.

Martinez-Villareal then jumped into the couple’s truck, backing over Mireille before crashing into parked cars a few hundred feet away.

Mireille Ellberg died at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights on March 1, 2007, at age 72, never having regained consciousness. Her son from a previous marriage, Rich Wilson, was there when she died.

“To start with I spent a lot of time (at the hospital),” Jim Ellberg said. “As it stretched out, not as long as I would have liked. But I was there about every day.”

While the incident didn’t leave him with any lasting physical injuries, Jim Ellberg said he is more emotional than he used to be.

“I used to see a tear-jerker and go, ‘ho hum,’” he said. “I don’t say ‘ho hum’ anymore.”