Local authorities encountered an Arlington Heights man at least a half-dozen times before he was accused of brutally killing his wife with a hatchet in Wisconsin last year, newly released police records show.
Beginning in March, police were called multiple times to incidents involving the couple. There were claims of a suicide attempt, threats, suspicious incidents, domestic trouble, battery, verbal abuse, trespassing, stalking, a hidden gun and an order of protection, according to Arlington Heights police records.
But Cristian Loga-Negru, 38, was never arrested, nor was he charged with any crimes in Arlington Heights, where he lived with his at-times-estranged girlfriend-turned-wife Roxana Abrudan, 36.
“When there’s probable cause for an arrest, we make an arrest,” Arlington Heights police Capt. Andrew Whowell said. “We confer with the state’s attorney when the situation is elevated to a felony status.”
Authorities say Loga-Negru “hunted” Abrudan, finding her Nov. 19 at her boss’s home near Milwaukee, where she had taken refuge after seeking a protective order against her husband.
Prosecutors have said that as Abrudan approached her boss’s home that night, Loga-Negru confronted her, hitting her several times in the head with a black hatchet. Police found Loga-Negru soaked in blood outside a motel after Abrudan died at a hospital, according to authorities.
Loga-Negru has since pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree intentional homicide, mayhem and kidnapping. He has been found competent to stand trial in the gruesome slaying.
Whowell declined to comment on specific Arlington Heights incidents involving the couple, but the Cook County state’s attorney’s office confirmed the local Police Department did not pursue criminal charges.
Abrudan’s boss has said she tried to get out of the situation.
“She went to police. Nothing really came of it, which is when we offered (the house),” said her supervisor, who asked that his name not be used.
Police records from the months leading to Abrudan’s death show an increasingly troubled dynamic.
In March, a woman reported that Loga-Negru had attempted suicide by taking Advil, though she later told police that she wasn’t certain it was a suicide attempt after all and that Loga-Negru “just wants to scare her.” Police redacted from their records the name of the woman who called in that report.
Two days later, Abrudan reported a threat to police. She waited in her Jeep for police to escort her into her condo because she said she had kicked Loga-Negru — her ex-boyfriend at the time — out of the home. Police reports show that Abrudan told authorities Loga-Negru had texted her, saying he was outside because he wanted to be with her.
When police contacted him, Loga-Negru said he wasn’t physically at Abrudan’s house but had wanted to speak with her about opera tickets, reports show. Police warned him to avoid contact and he agreed, according to a police report.
In July, the two, both Romanian immigrants, married.
Loga-Negru had been married and divorced at least twice before, with the most recent divorce recorded in March of that same year, according to Cook County court records. Abrudan also had ended a previous marriage that January.
In their monthslong union, according to police records, the husband became angry over his wife’s long hours at work and demanded more attention.
Abrudan went to the police twice in October.
On Oct. 29, she said she wanted a divorce and asked police for help getting an order of protection. Abrudan also requested that police not immediately contact Loga-Negru, fearing his reaction.
She went back to police with her boss Oct. 31 and said Loga-Negru had abused her, beating her two days after they were married and again Oct. 2. Reports show that she told police of other instances of verbal abuse and threats that he would “put a bullet in her head.” Police reports said Abrudan informed them that her husband told her he “hired a guy to kill her for $50,000.”
She had moved to an undisclosed location, left her car at the office parking lot and disconnected her phone because of “the history of violence and the fear of great bodily harm or death,” a police report shows.
No domestic battery charges could be filed, police indicated, because there had been a delay in reporting the alleged crime and there was a lack of evidence. Police documents said her reported injuries had healed and there had been no witnesses, although her boss told police that he saw her bruises.
That same week, Loga-Negru was seen waiting in the lobby of the building where his wife worked, according to police reports. He reportedly approached the cleaning crew, asking to get into her office. He told police he was concerned because his wife hadn’t come home.
The building manager called police, reporting a possible stalking situation. Police discussed the incident as criminal trespassing, but no charges were filed, records show.
On Nov. 3, two weeks before she was killed, Abrudan appeared in court with the village’s victim services coordinator to seek the order of protection.
Police then served a notice to Loga-Negru, seeking his gun. Police reports say he told authorities he didn’t know where it was, but officers found it in his coat — a loaded .40-caliber Taurus.
After officers escorted him out of their home and to his car, records show Loga-Negru told police to give his wife a message: “She should have more respect for her husband.”