Willowbrook man gets 40 years for strangling his girlfriend

A southwest suburban man was sentenced Friday for strangling his girlfriend two years ago inside their Willowbrook home.

Dean Norris, 61, was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison for the Dec. 17, 2014, slaying of 45-year-old Vanessa Cross, according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

Officers were called for a well-being check about 2 p.m. at the couple’s home in the 16W00 block of Honeysuckle Rose in Willowbrook, and they found Cross deceased on the floor of the living room, prosecutors said.

While in the home, officers saw Norris run across a nearby parking lot, and he was uncooperative when they asked him questions, prosecutors said.

They later determined Norris and Cross had gotten into an argument earlier in the day that ended with him strangling her, prosecutors said.