A Chicago man suspected of stabbing his two young children hundreds of times and killing his wife was charged today with three counts of first-degree murder. Nikolai Vasilev, 33, was expected to appear later in the day for a bond hearing in Rolling Meadows, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office said. Investigators have not publicly discussed a possible motive in the case.
Nikolai Vasilev claims to have returned home Wednesday night to find 9-year-old Christian Vasilev and 3-year-old Gracie Vasilev stabbed to death and his wife Tonya covered in blood, a source said.
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Nikolai saw what he thought were signs the boy was still alive, but the father's CPR efforts failed, the source said. When police arrived, they found Christian just inside the front door, according to Chicago Homicide Detective Horace "Ace" Jackson. They carried him outside and tried resuscitate the boy, but couldn't save him. |
Gracie and their mother were both upstairs, Russo said. According to the autopsy reports, both children had been stabbed more than 100 times, and Russo said police recovered several "household knives" believed to have been used to kill them. Tonya was murdered in her bedroom, where she apparently had been folding laundry. The killer initially appeared to have attempted rape and burglary, although Jackson is skeptical
A source close to the investigation said investigators believe Gracie was attacked first, then taken to the second floor, where Christian was watching television Wednesday night. The boy managed to flee to the first floor, where he was repeatedly stabbed.
Investigators have said they also plan to re-examine the death of the couple's third child, who died during a fire five years ago at the couple's Elk Grove Village home. Although the exact cause of the fire remains unknown, investigators found no evidence of foul play.
Nikolai, a native Bulgarian, met Tonya while they were attending a Bible college in the South, friends said. They came to Chicago in 1995, with the plan to build a Christian community for Bulgarians. Nikolai is a pastor, while his wife was a Sunday school teacher.