Slain Naperville woman's brother charged with murder - Chicago Sun-Times

BY Jon Seidel and Bill Bird wbird@stmedianetwork.com November 28, 2011 12:38PM

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Mark R. Lewis Date of birth 12/27/59 Lakemoor

Updated: November 28, 2011 4:26PM

Almost six months after police found Cathleen Lewis beaten to death in her Naperville townhouse, prosecutors have charged her younger brother in her murder.

Mark R. Lewis, 51, disappeared for more than a month after his sister's body was found June 8 in the 2300 block of Worthing Drive. Naperville police tried early to contact him with public statements insisting investigators "would like to confirm Mr. Lewis is OK, and to notify him of his sister's death."

But it took only days for them to name Lewis as a person of interest. He was charged Monday with four counts of murder, one count of home invasion and a count of residential burglary. His bail has been set at $ 1.5 million. He's expected back in court Dec. 19.

Will County State's Attorney's spokesman Chuck Pelkie said Lewis killed his sister June 6 by striking her in the head with a blunt object after entering her Naperville home without permission. Sgt. Gregg Bell said Cathleen Lewis' body was found in her bed.

Bell wouldn't say what object Mark Lewis allegedly used to kill his sister, only that it was "strong enough and dense enough to cause severe trauma." He also wouldn't say how Lewis got into the townhome near the Old Farm neighborhood on the city's far south side, but he said there was no forced entry.

Examiners from the Will County coroner's office concluded Cathleen Lewis died of "cranial cerebral injuries due to blunt head trauma." They listed the manner of death as homicide.

Cathleen Lewis was last seen June 5, Bell said, and failed to show up to work the next day. Her body was discovered during a welfare check.

The siblings' mother also lived in the townhome, but was not home at the time of the killing. Bell said Cathleen Lewis' murder is connected to a felony identity theft charge Mark Lewis faces for fraudulently cashing checks, valued at more than $ 2,000, on their mother's account. Bail was set in that case at $ 200,000.

That charge was filed June 28. Lewis was finally taken into custody July 14 in the parking lot of a CVS/pharmacy in Pensacola, Fla. Deputy sheriffs found him at the wheel of his green, 1999 Ford Explorer, after two store employees noted he had been sitting motionless in the vehicle for almost five hours.

He had originally been scheduled to appear Oct. 7 in an Escambia County, Fla., courtroom on an out-of-state fugitive warrant. Bell said Glasgow's office, in the interim, obtained a governor's warrant securing Lewis' extradition to Illinois.

Detectives traveled to Florida in July to speak with Lewis in the Escambia County Jail. They also confiscated and returned home with the Explorer, which has since been searched for potential evidence at a location in Will County.

Lewis apparently did not use any bank debit or credit cards or leave any sort of paper trail after the discovery of his sister's body.

Relatives and friends told police they did not see or hear from him after the slaying.

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