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Kids’ stabbing reopens fatal fire probe

Tribune staff reports
Published April 28, 2005, 3:58 PM CDT

Police today reopened an investigation into a fatal condominium fire in 2000 that killed a 3-month-old girl after two siblings of the child were found slain Wednesday night in their Hoffman Estates home.

Investigators have recovered several knives believed used as murder weapons and were questioning the children's parents. No charges had been filed as of midday, but police said they were not looking for anyone else in the killings.

Authorities identified the stabbing victims as Christian Vasilev, 9, and Gracie Vasilev, 3, of the 1100 block of John Drive in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates. Autopsies were pending at the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Representatives of the Cook County state's attorney's office today were talking to the parents, a 36-year-old man and 34-year-old woman, at the Hoffman Estates Police Department.

"The husband and wife are being held for questioning. We are not looking for anyone else at this time," said Hoffman Estates Police Lt. Rich Russo.

At 9:20 p.m. Wednesday, the children's father arrived home and called 911 to report that his children had been stabbed, said Hoffman Estates Police Officer Paul McCaffrey.

Police arrived within minutes and found the children dead—Gracie, on the second floor of the two-story single-family residence, and Christian, in the kitchen, WGN reported.

The youngster's mother was also home. Police would not confirm reports she had cuts on her body that required medical attention. WGN reported she was treated at a local hospital and then taken for questioning by police.

Police said the father was not in the house when the children were slain.

"There was no (call) of a criminal nature to this home" before Wednesday night, Russo said.

On May 26, 2000, the family lost a 3-month-old daughter, Gabrielle, after her mother briefly left her in the laundry room of their condominium in Elk Grove Village, where they were living at the time, and a fire broke out there, authorities said.

The cause of the fire remains undetermined, but foul play was never suspected, said Elk Grove Village Police Deputy Chief Larry Hammar. One potential cause considered was that the clothes dryer malfunctioned. Neither the children's mother nor her husband was considered a suspect.

The stabbing deaths of the couple's other children have prompted the department to investigate the fire again, Hammar said.

"We've had guys assigned to look into this whole thing. They've been over in Hoffman Estates all morning to see if anything more comes on our case,'' Hammar said.

More than 20 officers from Hoffman Estates and other area police departments, including members of the northwest suburban Major Case Assistance Team, were working on the case.

The children's father is a pastor at a church in Arlington Heights, and his wife is a stay-at-home mother, WGN reported. Neighbors told CLTV their children played together, and they never witnessed any problems in the family.

Christian Vasilev was a third-grader at Schaumburg Christian School.

"Christian was loved here. He had a lot of friends here. He was friendly. He was just a kind young man," school Administrator Randy Thaxton told WGN. "He was a good student. He worked hard to achieve what he did academically. He's going to be missed."

Counselors were available to talk with students. Thaxton said the school planned to notify parents rather than announce the tragedy to the students.

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