Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 4-5

5 CHICAGO TRIBUNE METRO SECTION4 By Lolly Bowean Tribune staff reporter When Tonya Murray met the man who would become her husband, she fell in love with him instantly, her daughter said. Lamar Stephens was in prison at the time, but he was charming and attentive. Murray was lonely and desperate for companionship, said her oldest daughter, Kandace Smith. Though the two had a troubling love affair that recently turned threatening, family never imagined that the relationship would end as it did. A housekeeper at the Holiday Inn Express in Calumet Park discovered Murray, 43, of Chi- cagodead in a room Tuesday.

Hours later, Stephens confessed to killing her after a quarrel, authorities said. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled. Stephens, 41, has been charged with first-degree murder, said Andy Conklin, spokesman for the Cook County office. He appeared in court Thursday and was ordered held without bail. Prosecutors said Stephens and Murray met at the hotel about 5 p.m.

Tuesday. Sometime during the night, they got into a quarrel, and Stephens is said to have strangled Murray. He left the hotel and drove to the Darien Police Station, where he told officers he wanted to commit sui- cide, officials said. They took him to a hospital to be examined, and he confessed to killing Murray, his ex-wife, Conklin said. Authorities know why the two were quarreling or why they met, he said.

The crime has shocked family, who described her as loving and caring but suffering from low self-esteem. children were at home Friday, comforting one another and trying to piece together what happened. just Smith, 21, said. needed our we depended on Murray grew up in Chicago and lived in Englewood with her three children and her grandchild, Smith said. For years, she worked as a drywall finisher and painter to support her family.

She was the only woman in her crew and at times felt the harsh labor stripped her of her femininity, Smith said. would constantly wear her daughter said. have a pink hat and some pink boots. She wanted people to know she was proud to be a Murray met Stephens in the 1990s while he was in prison, Smith said. A co-worker introduced them.

According to records, Stephens was sentenced to 20 years in prison for armed robbery in 1992. He was released from Tamms Correctional Center in November 2001, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Corrections said. Previously, he served about 5 years for burglary and possession and sale of stolen vehicles, officials said. Murray visited him in prison. When Stephens was released, he came to live with her in Englewood, her daughter said.

bought him a brand-new wardrobe: shoes, clothes, everything put money in his Smith said. The two eloped and tried to become a family. Eventually, the romance fizzled. The relationship grew stressful. Though Murray was still in love, her daughter said, she filed for divorce last fall.

She happy in the Smith said. was just tired of breaking up and getting back After the divorce, Stephens continued to reach out to Murray, said her daughter, who thinkshe get over their split and thatwas the reason they met at the hotel. Murray had taken out an emergency order of protection against him in May and had it extended last month, court records show. saw he was hurt by the Smith said. just wanted peace.

She wanted him to know she loved him and would be there for him, but they be murder shocks family; ex-husband charged 4750 West Dempster Skokie, Illinois 60076 847.679.3939 Fax: 847.679.3963 888.LEVAYAH www.levayah.com SERVICEDIGNITYVALUE A A Our Family of Caring Funeral Directors I. Ian Dick, Doran Puckett, Rudy Lerner, John Leadroot, Irina Kushnerova let us show you how reasonable a funeral can should be. In 1989, we began serving the families of this community when it was their time to deal with loss. As the Lloyd Mandel tradition grew, we built a reputation founded on trust, compassion and care. A reputation that bridges time: from those we served then to those who will need us tomorrow.

When you need someone, this tradition is what connects us to you. Tradition write that the governor is It was a day when the speaker and the governor even decide when the legislature should meet. But Blagojevich dismissed the attacks. asking for these to do is come to work and pass a he said. if they think insane, you know, their Even House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego said that the impeachment idea was over the top, but that the stalemate threatens to become a national joke.

Details of the infighting may have been lost on the public as Memorial Day led to summer and the government blew its July 1 date for a new budget year, but the stakes went up after the 4th of July, when all lawmakers returned to Springfield to answer the call for a special an estimated cost to taxpayersof $40,000 a day. Even broader consequences of the stalemate are that big- pocketbook issues get caught up in the budget impasse: whether the CTA will get new money from the state and avoid big fare hikes; whether Cook County homeowners will keep a cap on property taxes; whether consumers will get any relief from soaring electric bills; whether Cook County government should get a $100 million boost from the state to help underwrite health-care costs. What makes this budget impasse different from the nearly eight-week record overtime session in 2004 is that even at this late juncture, nobody can agree on a final figure for how much the state should spend. Madigan has estimated that the sides are $3 billion sizable distance about one-tenth of the operating fund. Blagojevich maintains that the differences go far beyond that.

a question of priorities. The difference a question of he said. But the grand programs that Blagojevich is broad-based health-care system, a big infusion of school money, a plan to pay down the pension debt by leasing the lottery and selling come with huge price tags. That has put him in conflict with lawmakers who disagree with his priorities and want to risk voter wrath for raising taxes. First, the keynote plan for a billion tax on business revenues flamed out in the House.

Blagojevich then embraced a major expansion of casino gambling, reversing his opposition in a quest for healthcare dollars. But that sank in a House committee. Madigan has backed some plans to raise revenue, including a regional sales tax increase to help mass transit. But the governor has refused to embrace the idea, suggesting it would violate his vow to oppose sales tax increases. The speaker, adept at keeping his Democratic majority safe on issues that anger voters, has complained that the governor lacks new alternatives for solving the budget problems.

never seen it this polarized said Sen. Donne Trotter of Chicago, the Senate budget expert. With House majority solidly lined up against the spending plans, the first seeds of a compromise could sprout in the Senate. Blagojevich debated priorities and funding options Friday in a closed-door hearing with Senate Democrats. Several suggested that the governor take back his promise to veto an income tax increase, saying everything should be on the bargaining table at this point.

But the governor showed no signs of retreat. One Democratic senator said the governor needsto scale back his top major expansion of state health-care to a pilot program for the first year with a broader rollout in later years. That leads to the question of how much of his health-care plan the governor would need in order to claim victory. Blagojevich has proved adept at portraying modest success as major progress. Trying to help the governor, Jones put aside his long-standing support for increasing the income tax in favor of the business tax early this session.

When that failed, he came up with the casino expansion proposal as an alternative to raise billions for top well as the health-care plan. Though Democratic differences continue to dominate the agenda, Republicans will get at least some say in the final budget because their votes are needed in the overtime session. Cross must supply at least four votes to reach the super- majority vote of 71 in the House, and he wants dollars for school construction. Jones, with 37 Democrats, can reach the super- majority of 36 votes in the Senate, but Republicans doubt he can persuade all of his caucus to go along. That gives Senate Republican leader Frank Watson of Greenville a voice in the process, too.

But right now, Cross said, the voice needed in Springfield may be his mother because need a to straighten things out. BUDGET: Session costs taxpayers $40,000 a day CONTINUEDFROMPAGE1 at the lakefront and many people flocked to the beach to swim. The water at most Lake Michigan beaches is tested daily, and an unusually high E. coli reading will shut a gates. Most beaches adhere to the Environmental Protection recommendation to at least issue a swimming advisory when the count exceeds 235 colonies per milliliter of water.

Other towns in the region have not seen an increase in beach closings. In Winnetka, closings are down from 13 last year to nine this year. Wilmette had a single beach closing yet this summer, said Bill Miller, the park lakefront manager. He said he has been happy with the good fortune because he hates to turn away beachgoers from Palatine and Naperville. waves have a lot to do with he said.

the E. coli sits on the bottom of the lake, and once it gets stirred up that is when the water tests for bacteria. had less northeastern winds kicking up the In Lake County, there have been more beach closings this year, but officials say a dispro- portionatenumberhas beenre- ported at North Point Marina in Winthrop Harbor. As of Friday, 24 of Lake 55 beach closings this summer have been at the North Point beach. Many of the others were scattered along the north shoreline, including beaches in Waukegan and the Illinois State Beach Park, said Michael Adam, senior biologist the Lake County Health Department.

He said North Point beach was closed again on Friday. But swimmers were seen splashing in the water in the steamy afternoon. A sign along the narrow drive that leads to the beach said, but no sign indicated that the beach was closed. At 6 p.m., Jung Lee, 34, of Hyde Parkarrived with his wife and two children, who were wearing swimsuits and sun hats and were ready to play in the water. Lee said he had no idea the beach was closed.

checked the water pollution level and it looked he said. The family decided to confine their beach activities to building sandcastles. Mark Pfisterof the Lake County Health Department said state officials usually post asign at the beach saying closed because of high E. coli levels. This year, there were 48 Lake County closings through June.

There were 32 at that point in 2006 and 23in 2005. The beaches in northern Lake County attract more sea gulls, whose droppings contrib- ute to E. coli levels, Pfister said. like North Point, we have a very good idea of what the source is of E. coli, and other beaches more diversity in the he said.

may be getting discharges in storm sewers or pet waste washing in from Officials say there have been fewer closings at beaches farther south in the county, such as Lake one of three locations where a more timely system of detecting E. coli levels was instituted in 2005. The system, SwimCast, monitors the beach environment, checking for factors that contribute to or limit E. coli growth, including air temperature, wind speed, water temperature, sunlight and wave height, Adam said. The lag time in obtaining bacteria-level test results under the previous system resulted in beaches being closed the day after samples were conditions probably had changed.

Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest), who helped obtain funding for SwimCast, described this beach closings as a think seen the beach closures decline in the Swim- Casts where the park districts are working on the ravines, raking the she said. we need to do more at the northern part of the county. Maybe we need to look at other alternatives for Illinois State Beach Park, North Point and BEACH: Some towns have not seen more closings CONTINUEDFROMPAGE1 Tribune photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo Lifeguard Chuan Lee walks along Oak Street beach, where a swimming ban was imposed Saturday because of high levels of E. coli bacteria.

The water at most Lake Michigan beaches is tested daily. who said he felt a duty to help the Stebic family after searchers discovered the body of his missing cousin, Kathy Garrigan, 24, an AmeriCorps volunteer who had disappeared over the Memorial Day weekend while canoeing on Harding Lake in Alaska. wanted to return the favor to the people who helped my Gawne said as he searched under bushes and around trees. Stebic, a mother of two, has been missing since April 30. The Stebic family often fished at Silver Springs, near Yorkville in Kendall County, and husband, Craig, hunted there, Greenberg said.

Neither Eiting nor Greenberg knew whether Craig Stebic was among the searchers. Attempts to reach Craig Stebic and his attorney, Dion Davi, were unsuccessful late Saturday. Eiting said there was no new evidence that prompted search, which he said took weeks to organize. Police closed off the same park earlier this month after deer bones were found by friends of Stebic searching there on the advice of apsychic. On Saturday, volunteers walked in a line, heads down, scattering grasshoppers as they kicked and poked through vegetation that was sometimes knee- high.

Though nothing turned up, there were occasional shouts of found and someone with a camera phone took a photo. I sat all day in the AC, but a mother, a sister, a feel for this said Joliet resident Lonnie Graham, 45, who wore a T-shirt that read God All Things Are and downed about seven bottles of water in the heat. want results. I want to bring closure to her Graham also understood the pain of losing a loved one. Her 10-year-old daughter, Candice, was killed by a drunk driver in a 1999 accident in Lockport.

Volunteers were told to report to the Kendall County fairgrounds in Yorkville, and by about 10a.m., a long line snaked through a pavilion that was used as a staging area. Some people waited as long as three hours before boarding a bus to search the park. The initial plan did not call for a search of the entire park, but police opened additional areas of the park to accommodate the volunteers. Jim Fier drove 90 minutes from his home in McHenry County to help search. one of my family members were missing, I would hope I could get enough people to help me find Fier said.

least I can do is not find something and help eliminate a Wearing matching Lincoln Elementary T-shirts, Plainfield resident Robyn Gislain came with her daughter, Margo, 9, who remembered Stebic as the lunch who worked at her school. Like other Plainfield residents, the two said disappearance remains a hot topic and fliers with her picture on it are still up in almost every store. was nice, bubbly and happy to said Robyn Gislain. remembered name, which is hard to do in a large For some searchers, the day had the feel of a long-ago field trip, complete with registration slips, free lunch and a ride on a yellow school bus. a shame it takes something like this to bring people said Shirley Vanjoske of Newark, as she stood under humming high-voltage wires in an otherwise empty field.

this brings out the good in Other than the description of clothing and personal items, investigators released no new information on the case. Tribune photo by Abel Uribe Searchers scour the woods at Silver Springs State Park in Kendall County on Saturday looking for clues in the April 30 disappearance of Lisa Stebic of Plainfield. SEARCH: Description of clothing is released CONTINUEDFROMPAGE1 Product: CTMETRO PubDate: 07-08-2007 Zone: ALL Edition: BDOG Page: 4-5 User: rbishop Time: Color:.