An Illinois man allegedly shot his daughter-in-law following a family wedding because she had filed to divorce his son.
Roland Schmidt, 76, was arrested in Schaumburg following reports of a shooting at around 10.15pm on Friday after Schmidt allegedly shot and killed 45-year-old Christine Moyer.
Moyer and her father-in-law Schmidt were in the parking lot of a Marriott hotel after attending a wedding before Moyer was shot in the head, police said in a press release.
She was later taken to hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
Schaumburg police said that Schmidt followed Moyer out of the hotel and shot her over the divorce.
Moyer and her husband had been married for 16 years with two children before she served him divorce papers on July 8, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The pair were reportedly attending Moyer’s husband’s cousin’s wedding. Moyer was with her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and her sister-in-law’s husband as she walked out to her car.
Schmidt allegedly walked outside of the hotel with the group before shooting Moyer in the back of the head.
He was disarmed by Moyer’s sister-in-law and her sister-in-law’s husband, an off-duty police officer and a bystander outside of the hotel.
According to the release, Schmidt was ‘subdued on the ground by a citizen’ and the gun was found at the scene.
Schmidt allegedly told police he had planned to shoot his daughter-in-law the week prior and intended to commit suicide afterward.
The defense argued that Schmidt should be allowed release from jail due to his medical issues and age, NBC 5 Chicago reported.
‘He executed her in the presence of her own family,’ Cook County Ellen Mandeltort said when he was ordered to be held without bail, the Daily Herald reported.
Prosecutors said at the Monday hearing that Moyer was loved by all, WGN-TV reported.
Schmidt was charged with first-degree murder and is scheduled to appear in court again in August.