Daily archives: March 3rd, 2010

First from the Sun-Times:

A suspect in the triple murder of a family in west suburban Darien was arrested this afternoon in south Florida, authorities said.

Jacob Nodarse, 23, of Lemont, was sleeping in a van outside his parents’ house in Lehigh Acres, Fla., when police and deputy U.S. marshals arrested him at about 4 p.m. today, officials said.

Nodarse was the subject of a manhunt after Darien Police early today issued an alert that he might have fled to Florida in a BMW, which was found parked in his parents’ garage, authorities said.

Nodarse has been charged with obstruction of justice. Police would not say why they believe he is a suspect in the fatal shootings early Tuesday of Jeffrey R. Kramer, 50, his wife Lori L. Kramer, 48, and their 20-year-old son Michael J. Kramer.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Shortly after the arrest in Florida, four police cars pulled up to a building in Countryside where records show Nodarse once lived. About half a dozen police officers in bullet-proof vests entered the building, breaking down a door.

Nodarse’s grandmother, Ingrid Kampe, 64, of Tinley Park, was shocked at news of the arrest.

She said they had just had dinner together at a steakhouse on Sunday "and he seemed fine, he seemed really good" and didn’t act out of the ordinary at all. She described him as kind, quiet and mild-mannered.

"He’s got a heart of gold," Kampe said.

Earlier today, Hamilton County sheriff’s police had searched a stretch of rural highway in northern Florida after cell phone signals indicated he was there.

But deputies reported back to Darien police that they found nothing. "They gave us a location where the car may be located. We checked every location in the area and haven’t found anything," said Hamilton County Sheriff J. Harrell Reid.

And it’s at this point that I’ll stress everyone arrested in this country is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

What a horrible tragedy.