Villa Park, IL Woman who killed female lover sentenced to 50 years

July 28, 2009

BY DAN ROZEK Staff Reporter

A Villa Park woman who suffocated her longtime lover, then hid her body and went on a date with another girlfriend, was sentenced today to 50 years in prison.

The prison term imposed on 28-year-old Nicole Abusharif for the 2007 slaying of Rebecca Klein likely will keep her behind bars until she is in her 70s.

Klein, 32, vanished on March 15, 2007 from the Villa Park home she shared with Abusharif, her partner of six years. Klein was reported missing the next day — and her body was discovered a day later stuffed in the trunk of Abusharif’s prized 1966 Ford Mustang parked in the couple’s garage. Her hands had been bound with duct tape and a plastic bag was taped around her head, causing her to suffocate.

DuPage County prosecutors convinced jurors that Abusharif had committed the killing so she would be free to pursue the other woman she was romancing and also so she could collect at least $250,000 in life insurance benefits from Klein’s death.

Abusharif was convicted May 5 of the killing, despite taking the witness stand to insist she didn’t kill Klein, who had worked with disabled adults.

“She was everything to me,’’ Abusharif claimed during the trial. “I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I didn't love her.’’

But authorities located a fingerprint from Abusharif on the tape around Klein’s neck and also found other prints on the plastic bag.

Key testimony came from Rose Sodaro, a woman with whom Abusharif had become romantically involved while she lived with Klein.

Sodaro testified that she met with Abusharif at a suburban restaurant the night Klein vanished — and that Abusharif gave her a key to the Mustang to show how strongly she felt about her. Later that night, Abusharif brought Sodaro back to the Villa Park home she had shared with Klein, Sodaro testified.

While Sodaro said she knew Abusharif and Klein lived together, she testified that Abusharif had told her the two women were only friends and roommates.

Abusharif, who faced a maximum 60-year prison term for the slaying, repeatedly said during her testimony that she had an open relationship with Klein that allowed her to date other women.