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Man Fled To Mexico After Slashing Wife's Throat In 2013, Prosecutors Say

By Erica Demarest | August 6, 2016 10:06am | Updated on August 12, 2016 11:32am
 Cesar Sanabria, 31, is charged with murdering his wife in the 4400 block of South Richmond Street.
Cesar Sanabria, 31, is charged with murdering his wife in the 4400 block of South Richmond Street.
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DNAinfo/Erica Demarest; Cook County Sheriff's Office

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A South Side man slit his wife's throat and fled to Mexico after the woman said she wasn't happy in their relationship, prosecutors said Friday.

Nearly three years after the grisly attack, Cesar Sanabria was extradited to Chicago this week and charged with first-degree murder.

His wife's father found Lady Diana Sanabria, 31, dead in the couple's Brighton Park home on Nov. 3, 2013, prosecutors said. The woman's throat was slashed, and she lay in a pool of blood.

RELATED: Brighton Park Man Finds Daughter, 31, With Throat Slit on Kitchen Floor

The mother of four had recently told her husband she wasn't happy with their marriage, Assistant State's Attorney Guy Lisuzzo said during a bond hearing Friday.

That's when Cesar Sanabria, now 34, made plans to kill Lady Diana Sanabria, prosecutors allege.

The man bought a ticket to Mexico and asked Lady Diana Sanabria's parents to babysit the couple's four children on Nov. 3, 2013, so that he and and his wife could go dancing, prosecutors and family friends said.

According to the couple's landlord, Jose Madregal, the pair did dance that afternoon. But prosecutors say Cesar Sanabria went on to attack Lady Diana Sanabria with a knife inside their home in the 4400 block of South Richmond Street later that day.

Lady Diana Sanabria's parents knew something was wrong when the woman never picked up her children, according to family friends. So the parents headed to Sanabria's home, borrowed a key from the landlord and made the horrific discovery.

Police were called to the scene about 7:30 p.m., and Sanabria was pronounced dead at 7:59 p.m.

DNA evidence on the scene linked Cesar Sanabria to the murder, Lisuzzo said, and police found a knife stained with blood in the kitchen.

Cesar Sanabria, a Mexican native, stole Lady Diana Sanabria's cellphone and fled to Mexico after the attack, prosecutors said. He was extradited to Chicago on Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder.

Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil on Friday denied Cesar Sanabria bail, calling him "not only a flight risk, but a danger to himself and society."

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