Illegal Immigrant Accused of 'Violent' Murder Shortly After Entering US

An illegal immigrant has been accused of murdering his wife in front of their children following an argument on Sunday night.

"Baltazar Perez-Estrada turned himself in to the Carol Stream Police Department in Illinois just before noon Monday, telling them he’d stabbed 26-year-old Maricela Simon Franco," as reported by Chicago’s WFLD.

It wasn't immediately clear if Perez-Estrada confessed to murder or merely admitted to assaulting her.

"Perez-Estrada allegedly attacked his wife after she revealed she had a boyfriend," according to The Chicago Daily Herald.

Court documents suggest she also indicated plans to leave him earlier that Sunday.

“A medical examiner determined Simon-Franco had been stabbed several dozen times in the face, head, neck, arms, and chest, and was nearly decapitated,” the Daily Herald reported.

Perez-Estrada had been residing in Mexico but entered the U.S. illegally on March 11, according to a petition for pretrial detention filed by Assistant State’s Attorney Lee Roupas cited by the Daily Herald.

Police had responded to a domestic dispute call at their apartment just six days after his entry into the country, although no charges were filed then.

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin described the incident as an “extremely violent” attack, resulting in Simon Franco's death two weeks later.

“The extremely violent end to a young mother’s life is something that should touch us all,” Berlin said in a statement cited by WFLD. “Domestic violence continues to be a scourge on society, claiming more than ten million victims a year in some form or fashion."

Perez-Estrada faces five counts of first-degree murder in addition to the charge of alien inadmissibility already pending against him from the federal government.

On Thursday, DuPage County Judge Joshua Dieden granted the state’s petition to hold Perez-Estrada pending trial.