By Alicia Ebaugh
Published: Thursday, June 3, 2010 3:08 AM CDT
Staff writer
MICHIGAN CITY — The boyfriend of 19-year-old Caitlin Wopinek was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with voluntary manslaughter in connection with her death at Woodland Crossing Apartments March 14.
“We would have liked to make an immediate arrest, but all we needed just wasn’t there,” said La Porte County Sheriff’s Capt. John Boyd, who headed investigation on the case against Jeffery Maldonado, 22. “We had to make sure our evidence supported our beliefs and have done a meticulous job to that end. We had to do it in the interest of justice not only for Caitlin Wopinek but for Jeff Maldonado, as well.”
Maldonado called 911 around 9 a.m. the morning of Wopinek’s death reporting she had been shot in the neck at the apartment the couple shared at 328 Woods Edge Drive, just outside the Michigan City limits. La Porte County detectives held him for questioning for nearly a day before he was released. Boyd said at that point they did not have the evidence they needed to press charges, but by last week they received all the lab tests they had ordered following the shooting.
On Friday, Detective Brian Piergalski and Sgt. Patrick Cicero, evidence technician, met with prosecutors and La Porte Superior Court 1 Judge Kathleen Lang to obtain an arrest warrant, said La Porte County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Atley Price.
“This case was relentlessly pursued by Piergalski, Cicero, Captain John Boyd and the entire detective bureau, as well as numerous road officers of the LaPorte County Sheriff’s
Department,” Price said in a news release. “As a result of their diligent and methodical investigation, the prosecuting attorney’s office was able to establish adequate probable cause for charging Maldonado.”
Even though Maldonado has been taken into custody, Boyd said he was still limited on what he could say about the circumstances of Wopinek’s death.
“We have an idea of what happened, but we need to make sure we protect our case,” he said.
Trent Hartnett, a friend of the couple, said earlier that the night before Wopinek died, he picked her up from Applebee’s after her server shift ended and brought her home about 11 p.m. Maldonado was out with some other friends that night, but called Hartnett around 5 a.m. Sunday to come pick him up. Wopinek was reported dead four hours later.
Chicago police said Maldonado was arrested around 9 a.m. Wednesday on a fugitive from justice warrant at a home in the 5700 block of South Kostner Avenue without incident. He had reportedly been staying with his mother in Chicago since Wopinek’s death.
Maldonado’s extradition hearing is set for this morning, Chicago police reported. If he waives extradition proceedings, his initial appearance before Judge Lang could occur as early as Tuesday morning, Price said. He is being held on $100,000 bond in a Chicago police holding area until his custody is transferred.
Wopinek’s family members declined to comment on Maldonado’s arrest.
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