Woman accused of killing, dismembering landlord takes stand in defense

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file photo

A woman accused of killing and dismembering her landlord two years ago at a Northwest Side home they shared took the stand in her own defense on Friday.

Sandra Kolalou, 37, faces a slew of charges in the case, from murder to concealing a homicidal death. She was arrested after the severed head, arms and legs of 69-year-old Frances Walker were discovered stuffed into a kitchen freezer at the home.

Investigators have not found Walker’s torso.

Kolalou, sounding confident and upbeat, told jurors she and Walker, her landlord, were friends. eating lunch together frequently. Every Saturday, Kolalou testified, she would sing hymns while Walker practiced the piano.

Kolalou, however, admitted to tension with other tenants in the building. One stole her purse, she testified, another would throw garbage on her.

On cross examination, prosecutors tried to puncture Kolalou’s recollection of a close friendship with Walker by reading a series of increasingly combative text messages between the two.

Walker rented Kolalou a room in a first-floor unit they shared. The single-family home was divided by floor into multiple units.

Prosecutors have accused Kolalou of killing Walker during an argument after Walker served her with an eviction notice. The defense has raised suspicions about other tenants in the building, including Walker’s husband, and portrayed the Chicago Police Department’s investigation as overly myopic.

Kolalou’s attorneys called Walker’s niece, Cory Walker, who said while investigating the case on her own she discovered and photographed “a white bucket filled with a red substance” at Rose Hill Cemetery, where Frances Walker liked to visit. The defense questioned why it was never recovered and tested, but an employee of the medical examiner’s office testified that the substance was unlikely to be blood.

Before Walker’s remains were discovered, police were called to the home several times by other tenants concerned about Walker’s well-being after at least two tenants heard a loud argument, allegedly between Kolalou and Walker, the night of Oct. 9, 2022.

Kolalou told jurors her car broke down earlier that day at Foster Beach. She then attended a birthday party in the suburbs with a friend and got home at midnight. She denied fighting with Walker.

“I’m from the South. We respect our elders,” she said.

The following morning, those tenants were alarmed by a series of text messages sent from Walker’s phone, including a message saying Kolalou would be taking care of Walker’s dog and to give Kolalou their keys if they moved out, despite them previously being under the impression Kolalou was being evicted, prosecutors have said.

Police questioned Kolalou as she tried to get into a tow truck with a trash bag, and briefly detained her when she became combative. They were allowed to look inside her bedroom before leaving.

Police were called back a short time later, when other tenants entered the unit and found traces of blood. They also followed Kolalou in the tow truck as it headed to Foster Beach to get her car.

At the beach, Kolalou allegedly placed the trash bag she had taken with her in a waste container police recovered later. That bag was found to be filled with other trash bags containing bloody rags.

The car eventually was towed to a repair shop. There, police spoke to Kolalou again.

Antonio Coria, the tow-truck driver, had testified earlier this week that he became concerned for his safety as they moved her car from the shop to the street, but admitted on cross examination Kolalou had offered him marijuana, and he smoked it with her.

Coria had testified earlier this week that as he was starting to disconnect her car from the tow truck, she threatened him with a knife, telling him “you’re next.”

Police, waiting nearby, detained Kolalou. A small folding knife attached to her keys was recovered from her pocket. Other knives were found in her bag.

“This is Chicago … I keep it for protection,” she testified Friday. She denied threatening Coria.

A Chicago police evidence technician testified Thursday that upon entering the home, he smelled a “high concentration" of bleach, and suspected someone had tried to conceal evidence.

During his testimony, the jury was shown photos of Walker's head, arms and legs as they were removed from the freezer.

On the stand Wednesday, Frances Walker’s widower, Hristo Mantchev, said he couldn't remember how he had met his wife, or that he had been a caretaker for Walker’s former husband, or that he had met or recognized Kolalou, who had lived in a room on the home’s first floor, which she shared with Mantchev and Walker.

The cross examination of Mantchev concluded with defense attorney Sean Brown yelling dramatically: “Mr. Mantchev, did you kill your wife?”

Mantchev chuckled. "No," he replied.