Prosecutors: Wife killed after refusing to have sex one last time

An Addison man was upset over the impending breakup of his marriage and his wife’s refusal to have sex when he stabbed her to death and injured his stepson who tried to intercede, prosecutors said at a Monday bond hearing.

Kurtis Worley, 33, was ordered held on $3 million bail in the DuPage County jail, charged with the first-degree murder of his wife, Martha Worley, 39, who was found stabbed and pummeled early Friday in the bedroom of the family home.

Martha Worley had recently told her husband that she intended to seek a divorce, which Kurtis Worley said prompted his attack, Assistant State’s Attorney Anne Therieau said at a hearing before Judge Elizabeth Sexton.

Authorities were called to the family’s home in the 900 block of North Craig Place after receiving a 911 call from Martha Worley’s sons, who are 15 and 12, according to authorities.

They reportedly heard their mother’s screams and tried to enter the locked master bedroom, and when they pounded on the door, Kurtis Worley opened it, “naked and looking like a psychopath,” the sons told police.

When the older son tried to enter, Worley allegedly stabbed him in the throat. He and his brother retreated, the prosecutor said, with the wounded son heading to a bathroom and his brother going to kitchen to arm himself with a knife. They unsuccessfully tried to re-enter the locked bedroom and then called 911, Therieau said.

When authorities arrived, they peered through a window and saw Martha lying face down in bed, with Kurtis lying on the floor. Police broke down the locked door and transported Martha to a hospital, where surgeons tried in vain to save her.

“Two knives were recovered, both soaked in blood,” Therieau said.

The son who was stabbed in the throat had emergency surgery and will need rehabilitation to regain his ability to speak, the prosecutor said.

Worley attempted to slit his writs after the attack, prosecutors said. His bandaged arms were visible during the video bond call.

According to police, he gave several recorded statements describing the attacks. He said that earlier that night he had asked Martha Worley to have sex with him one last time before they parted and that she declined. He said he begged for about an hour and then went to the garage, where he drank some tequila and vodka.

He said he returned to the bedroom, armed with two knives, and just stood staring at the sleeping Martha for at least five minutes before he began stabbing and pummeling her in the head, the prosecutor said.

Worley, who said he works at a warehouse for a flooring distributor, told the judge that the family had lived in the neighborhood for 11 years. The Worleys are the parents of a 9-year-old girl.

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Source: chicagotribune.com “Prosecutors: Wife killed after refusing to have sex one last time,” July 31, 2013.

Tags: Criminal Law, Martha Worley, refusing to have sex one last tim, stabbed