Man held without bail in stabbing, beating death of mother

A 25-year-old man accused of stabbing and beating his mother to death and dumping her body in a trash can was ordered held without bail Thursday.

Betty Wallace, 67, had thrown her son, Robert, out of her house in East Beverly in August after a “violent incident” during which he cut her face with a knife, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Jamie Santini said during the younger Wallace’s bail hearing.

Betty Wallace moved her son into an apartment in another building she owned, and changed the locks to her house, Santini said. When she missed a family member’s birthday party on Sunday, her relatives called police. As officers and relatives convened outside Betty Wallace’s house in the 10000 block of South Church Street, Robert Wallace pulled up in his mother’s car, and told the officers his mother was at a meeting on Halsted Street, Santini said.

The next day, on Christmas Eve, Streets and Sanitation workers found Betty Wallace’s badly beaten body in a garbage can three blocks away.

“She had multiple lacerations and stab wounds to her body and face,” Santini said. “Betty Wallace’s head had been beaten so badly that the right side of her face was completely caved in, and she was missing several teeth.”

An autopsy showed Betty Wallace died from multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma to the head, Santini said.

Wearing a black, long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans, Robert Wallace craned his neck to look into the courtroom gallery on Thursday as he was led in front of Judge Michael Clancy.

The same day the body was discovered, Betty Wallace’s relatives again called police and met them at her home — this time letting officers into the house. Inside, they found blood spattered throughout the house, and several teeth on the floor, Santini said. A green plastic tote bag in the dining room also had blood on it and under it. A half-empty bottle of boric acid also was found inside, Santini said. Betty Wallace’s credit card, keys and driver’s license were removed from her purse, the group also noticed, Santini said.

That day, Robert Wallace again drove up to the house in his mother’s car, and was unable to say where his mother was or why he was using her car, Santini said.

Officers noticed what appeared to be blood on his coat, Santini said. They searched him and found two “hunting knives” and two pocket knives on him, as well as his mother’s keys, credit cards and license, Santini said. One of the knives had what appeared to be dried blood on it, Santini said.

Betty Wallace’s relatives said they had not talked with her since Dec. 18, but her credit cards had been used multiple times between Dec. 19 and her son’s arrest on Christmas Eve, including trips to fast food restaurants and a big and tall men’s shop, Santini said. Police said that they found blood in the back seat of Betty Wallace’s car.

Assistant Public Defender Gina Piemonte said that Robert Wallace had no prior criminal history.