Jonas Says He Shot Wife Because She Beat Him, Prosecutor Says

Albert Jonas told police he shot his wife in the chest because he could no longer stand her yelling and beating him, a prosecutor said at the Plainfield man’s bond hearing Wednesday.

“I did it, I did it,” Jonas, 75, told police when they arrived at the couple’s 14531 General Drive home Tuesday morning to find him standing on the sidewalk.

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Joel Brown recounted the Plainfield Police Department’s case investigation to justify the decision to charge Jonas with one count of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery with a handgun.

Jonas is accused of shooting his 62-year-old wife, Linda Jonas, in the chest and leg and his stepdaughter, Samantha Falbo, 25, in the head. While his wife is being treated for non-life threatening injuries at Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Falbo is in a drug-induced coma at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora and is paralyzed on her right side, Brown said. Her condition remains critical.

Jonas, looking feeble and dressed in a red jail jumpsuit, appeared at the bond hearing via video. Almost immediately, he asked Judge Marzell Richardson, “Do you want me to tell you why I did what I did?”

Richardson urged him not to speak. Instead, Jonas listened as Brown described the events that led to the shooting and the shooting itself.

Jonas and his wife had been married for 14 or 15 years and had a troubled relationship, Brown said. Linda Jonas reportedly stopped speaking to him about a year ago and physically and verbally abused him, Jonas told police.

“My wife kept telling me she was going to kill me. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” Jonas told police, according to Brown. “I told her to stop beating me but she wouldn't stop beating me. … I’m glad it’s over.”

Jonas obtained a .357-caliber handgun, which he kept in the work shed in the back yard of their home. About a week ago, he moved it into the house, the prosecutor said.

At about 6 a.m. Tuesday, he went upstairs to the master bedroom to see his wife. Linda Jonas said, “What are you doing here?”

When he asked what she was going to do that day, she replied, “None of your damn business. Why don’t you go kill yourself?”

He then retrieved the handgun, shot her in the chest and then followed her as she fled to her daughter’s bedroom, Brown said. There, he shot Falbo in the head and Linda Jonas in the leg, according to Brown.

Jonas said he has no memory of shooting Falbo, who moved in with the couple about a year ago, and said he had no dispute with her.

Linda Jonas was able to take the gun from him, put it in the closet in Falbo’s room and called 911, Brown said. The gun, with three rounds missing, was recovered during a search of the couple’s house.

Despite what seems to be a premeditated attack, there are signs that Albert Jonas may be dealing with some issues of memory or mental health. He was unable to provide police with some basic information while being questioned, such as his address and phone number, Brown said.

While in court Wednesday, he told the judge he did not know where he lived.

Police were called to the couple’s home last year to investigate a complaint that Jonas may have been mistreated but could find nothing to justify that, Plainfield police have said. They also came to the house two years ago for a domestic disturbance but no charges were filed.

Brown asked the judge to set no bond for Jonas but Richardson said that would not be appropriate given that the man is charged with attempted murder, not murder. He also had a clean criminal record until this week.

When Jonas was asked how much bond he could afford to pay, he said he couldn’t pay any.

“My wife took all of the money I had,” he said.

Richardson set bond at $1 million—Jonas would have to pay $100,000 to be released pending trial—and set a preliminary hearing/arraignment date of Aug. 3.