Crime & Safety

Huntley Murder a Tragedy for Neighbors, Community

Huntley Police Chief John Perkins said murder should serve as a "wakeup call" for other domestic violence victims.

No one in Michelle Mathieu’s Rock Springs Lane neighborhood really knew her very well.

Everyone, however, knew that she was a domestic violence victim.

Neighbors realized what was going on in August after her boyfriend, Robert Signorile, was arrested on a domestic violence charge.

Find out what's happening in Huntleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A neighbor tried to reach out to Mathieu with an offer of help, but to no avail.

News of her March 24 death, which authorities say was a domestic homicide, left her Sun City neighbors saddened.

Find out what's happening in Huntleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We were devastated that he could do something like that. It’s a shame. She didn’t deserve it,” said Barb Hoppensteadt, who lives across the street.

The house Mathieu rented with her boyfriend sits empty with an older pickup truck parked in the driveway. It was inside the master bedroom that authorities found an unconscious Mathieu severely beaten on March 18. Police received a 911 phone call reporting an unresponsive person at the home.

Mathieu was taken to Sherman Hospital in Elgin. She had severe injuries to her upper body and head. The injuries were so severe that they fell under the legal definition of  “exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty,” Huntley Police Chief John Perkins said.

Tuesday, Signorile was being held in the McHenry County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder. His bail was set at $2 million. Huntley police took him into custody this week after he was released from the hospital, where he was being treated for an undisclosed condition.

Huntley police are not certain whether the couple was arguing or what happened before, Perkins said.

Signorile and Mathieu lived together for a while and had moved to Huntley in August 2011. Neighbors said the home they rented is in foreclosure. Sun City is an over 55, active adult community and it is unknown why the home was rented to the couple, who were younger.

“They were very quiet, they kept to themselves,” Hoppensteadt said. “We would see them walking the dog.”

The neighborhood knew about the domestic arrest at the home. Huntley police responded to a domestic violence call in August. Signorile was charged and later convicted of domestic battery. He was sentenced to a one year of supervision and was fined $263. He also was ordered to attend anger counseling, police said.

Huntley police met with Mathieu after the August incident, per department policy. Perkin said officers meet with domestic violence victims to provide options for emergency orders of protection or where they can go to for help in the county, like Turning Point of McHenry County.

Mathieu did not have an order of protection against Signorile. He left the home for a while but returned.

“I didn’t know either one well,” neighbor Linda Carroll said. She lives across the street is the Neighborhood Watch captain. “It’s a tragedy. It shouldn’t happen in our Del Webb community, it shouldn’t happen in any community.”

In 2010, there were 320 reports of domestic violence and 310 through September 2011, according to the Huntley Police Department’s budget report from December.

Mathieu’s murder is the second domestic homicide in three years. Jennifer L. Beaudion, 33, was shot to death in February 2009 by her ex-finance, David Griner, 39, who then shot himself.

“These are tragic cases,” Perkins said. “It’s frustrating. As police, we can do very little until the victim wants help. We can’t control what happens in the sanctity of a home.”

Perkins called the Mathieu murder a “wakeup call for other victims in the community.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.