Paul Runge

Background

Paul Frederick Runge was 31 when he was charged in Chicago with murdering and sexually assaulting six women and a 10-year-old girl in Cook County and DuPage County between 1995 and 1997. He was arrested for a parole violation in 1997 and had been held in custody since then.

Runge had been paroled in 1994 after a conviction for kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old girl in 1987. When he was 17, he pleaded guilty to kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and armed violence in return for a 14-year sentence, served five years in prison, and then got out of prison in 1994. He moved to Carol Stream, found a job at a Lady Foot Locker, and got engaged. He married on Jan. 27, 1995.

His father, Richard Runge, argued that Paul Runge was mentally ill. Richard Runge said he and his late wife, Anita, adopted Paul Runge when he was 6 months old. During the death penalty proceedings, Richard Runge apologized to Ramon Rivera and his wife for his son’s actions.

Charlene Runge divorced Paul Runge. Authorities granted Charlene Runge immunity in 2000 in exchange for her cooperation. It was stated that Charlene Runge played a role in the first three slayings, which included the murder of Stacey Frobel and the murder six months later of two Hanover Park sisters who recently fled war-torn Bosnia. Investigators later granted her immunity in 2000, and forensic experts later gleaned DNA evidence from Jessica Muniz’s body. After being confronted with the evidence, Runge confessed on videotape to all seven murders and was charged in June 2001.

The offence

Runge was accused of a string of sex attacks between 1995 and 1997 that involved murder and sexual assault against seven victims: six women and a 10-year-old girl.

Authorities said the victims were bludgeoned to death or strangled. In most cases, police said Runge went to homes that had posted for-sale signs for various things. Other victims were women who had responded to his help-wanted ads for someone to clean his home or merely acquaintances.

Victim killings described in the record included dismemberment and burning of bodies.

1995 offences

Runge was accused in the January 1995 killing of Stacey Frobel, 25. Frobel’s body was found in southern Wisconsin and Illinois. Frobel was described as the mother of a 6-year-old boy and a friend of Runge’s former wife.

Six months later, Runge was accused of killing the two Hanover Park women, sisters Dzeneta Pasanbegovic, 22, and Amela Pasanbegovic, 20. Police said he lured them to his home with the promise of house cleaning jobs. After the killings, Runge allegedly dismembered them in a bathtub and dumped their remains in trash bins. Investigators never found the two women’s bodies.

1997 offences

Runge was accused of the 1997 deaths of Dorota Dziubak, 30, Yolanda Gutierrez, 35, and her 10-year-old daughter, Jessica Muniz, and Kazimiera Paruch, 43.

It was stated that Dorota Dziubak was killed after she advertised her Northwest Side house for sale. It was stated that Yolanda Gutierrez and Jessica Muniz were raped and murdered. It was also stated that Kazimiera Paruch was killed after she advertised her condominium for sale.

The record described that Runge went to the victims’ homes after seeing for-sale signs or other indications. For Yolanda Gutierrez and Jessica Muniz, prosecutors said he went to their apartment at the 3100 block of North Laramie Avenue in response to a for-sale sign for exercise equipment. It was said he sexually assaulted both victims and then cut their throats. It was stated that he burned their bodies.

During the trial, prosecutors said Runge went to Gutierrez’s apartment Feb. 3, 1997, on Chicago’s Northwest Side in response to a for-sale sign for exercise equipment. There, prosecutors said he raped Gutierrez and Muniz, slashed their throats and torched their apartment.

The record also stated that Frobel’s death involved beating with a dumbbell and dismemberment with a saw in Runge’s bathtub, with her remains found in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

Kazimiera Paruch, 43, of Chicago, was described as being killed after her residence was up for sale. The record stated that burned bodies were discovered after firefighters extinguished separate fires in their homes.

Method and forensic connections described

Runge’s confession was described as including details about the murders. It was said that he admitted smashing Frobel’s skull with a weight as she spent the night rather than drive home intoxicated, carried her bloody body into another bedroom, laid her down on plastic, and confessed to raping the unconscious woman. It was further stated that the next morning he dismembered Frobel’s body in a bathtub using a saw and later scattered her remains.

For the Gutierrez case, the record stated that DNA evidence was collected from the mother and child and matched Runge’s profile in late 2000. It was also stated that police told investigators a DNA sample taken from Muniz matched Runge’s DNA and led to his being formally charged in June 2001.

Investigation

The police said they began questioning Runge a week before June 15, 2001 after DNA from one of the dead women matched his profile. Police said Runge confessed to all seven killings and provided details about them.

The Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Devine was quoted describing Runge as “a terrible predator” and calling him “our worst nightmare.” Devine said: “Paul Runge is our worst nightmare.” Devine also said: “He conned his way into women's homes or duped them into trusting him. He then raped and murdered them.”

Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Bernie Murray said prosecutors planned to seek a trial in the January 1995 slaying of Stacey Frobel. Murray said Frobel’s dismembered remains were found in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

Prosecutors said DNA evidence collected from the mother and child was matched to Runge’s profile in late 2000 and that forensic evidence turned up in the investigation of Frobel’s death as well.

Arrest and custody

The record stated that Runge had been behind bars since 1997 when he was arrested for a parole violation.

It was stated that Runge was awaiting trial on five other slayings while he faced the death penalty for the Gutierrez and Muniz murders.

Runge was also described as serving a sentence for a botched prison escape in 2000 after an Oct. 6, 2000 attempted escape from a prison in Plainfield. The record described that he and another inmate overpowered guards taking them to a court appearance. In addition, the record said he had convictions involving armed robbery, aggravated battery and possession of contraband in a penal institution in an October 2000 attempted escape from a prison.

Trial

Cook County murder and death penalty trial for Yolanda Gutierrez and Jessica Muniz

A Cook County jury convicted Paul Runge, 36, of first-degree murder in the 1997 rape and killing of Yolanda Gutierrez and Jessica Muniz, rejecting his insanity defense.

The jury deliberated for about an hour before telling Criminal Court Judge Joseph Kazmierski Jr. they would consider the death penalty. The record stated that the jury later recommended death after deliberating for just two hours, and that the judge sentenced Runge to death.

Charges and verdict details stated

It was stated that Runge was convicted in February of repeatedly raping and cutting the throats of Yolanda Gutierrez, 35, and her daughter, Jessica Muniz, 10. The record stated that Runge was found guilty in February of repeatedly raping and cutting their throats.

In the verdict phase, it was stated that Runge raped both Gutierrez and Muniz before slitting their throats and burning their bodies on a bed.

The record stated that prosecutors argued Runge was not insane and that prosecutors said he was shrewd and cunning in talking his way into Gutierrez’s apartment by tricking her into thinking he wanted to purchase a reading program her daughter had used.

Assistant State’s Atty. John Dillon was quoted: “He's not insane; he's not mentally ill.” Dillon also was quoted: “He's evil.”

Defense attorneys argued that Runge suffered from sexual sadism that made him unable to control his impulses to rape and kill. Assistant Public Defender Woody Jordan told jurors: “Natural life without parole is the appropriate sentence because he is a sick man,” Jordan also stated. Jordan also said: “Natural life without parole is the appropriate sentence because he is a sick man,” according to the record.

Assistant Public Defender Lisa Boughton was quoted in the record. Boughton said: “he is out of control.”

It was stated that prosecutors in the penalty phase put on the only known victim to survive an attack by Runge, who recounted 15 hours of rape and torture. The victim testified that Runge lured her by telling her a friend needed someone to hide some marijuana for the night. The victim said she slipped out of a window without her mother’s knowledge and met Runge near a horse stable. The record stated that when she followed Runge into his house, he punched her in the face and then began raping her repeatedly. The victim also testified that fifteen hours later she escaped from a crawl space bound, handcuffed, gagged and blindfolded, with her body covered with bite marks, knife wounds on her arms and her ankles and wrists ringed with deep impressions from handcuffs.

When asked by prosecutors Tuesday to describe her injuries, the record stated that the woman asked: “The physical injuries?”

A record also described that about 14 hours after the torture and rapes began, Runge’s girlfriend called him and asked for a ride to work. The woman testified that Runge stuffed her into a sleeping bag—gagged, blindfolded and bound—and put her into a crawl space before leaving the house. The record quoted her: “I was thinking that I wasn't going to die lying down, that I was going to escape.”

Family reactions quoted

Ramon Rivera, whose daughter and granddaughter died at Runge’s hands, was quoted. During the February 28, 2006 jury recommendation phase, Rivera said: “There can never be closure for us, because I don't have my daughter right now. I don't have my granddaughter, at least justice is done ... He'll never be able to harm anyone again. I guess he got what was coming to him. I know he is going to burn in hell. He has to.”

Ramon Rivera also was quoted later, after the jury recommended death: “He took the lives of seven beautiful people, and it's only right for them to take his life now -- he's a monster,” and “I wish that the good Lord will give me enough time to see him strapped to the gurney. Once he's gone, then I'll be satisfied.”

In the June 6, 2006 proceedings, Rivera’s family did not appear in the courtroom. It was stated that no one from Runge’s family or the victims’ family were in the courtroom when the judge sentenced Runge. The record also stated that Runge showed no outward expression other than nodding and showed no emotion as the judge’s decision was read.

Sentencing

A Cook County judge, Joseph Kazmierski, denied motions by Runge’s public defenders to seek a new trial and a new sentencing hearing and sentenced Paul Runge to death.

The record stated that Bernie Murray, assistant Cook County state's attorney, said prosecutors planned to seek a trial in the January 1995 slaying of Stacey Frobel. It also stated that the judge set a July 20 status date for the Frobel case and said he expected lawyers to go to trial quickly.

The jury recommended death after convicting Runge of raping and slashing Yolanda Gutierrez and her daughter Jessica Muniz to death.

The record included quoted statements by prosecutors and described the jury deliberations and timing.

Prosecutor Bernie Murray was quoted: “Paul Runge, for us, redefined the death penalty in Cook County. A serial killer of this magnitude has not been seen in the Chicagoland area for quite some time.”

Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Bernard Murray told the jury: “Paul Runge is the ultimate candidate for the death penalty.” Murray also was quoted: “If not him, who?”

Assistant Cook County assistant prosecutors also were quoted regarding another case. The record quoted Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Bernie Murray on June 6, 2006 about trial plans for Stacey Frobel.

A quote by Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine appeared: “I think this should be a message for the governor and the legislature that we should take a look at the moratorium and seriously decide what we are going to do with the death penalty in this state....” Devine also was quoted: “This case will bring into focus the need for this state to make a decision on where we are going.”

Another quote by Devine stated: “He conned his way into women's homes or duped them into trusting him.

Appeals

The record stated that Runge’s defense lawyers William Wolf and Woody Jordan filed an appeal in the case after the judge denied a request for a gag order.

The record stated that Runge was awaiting trial on five other slayings while he faced the appeals process automatic in death sentences.

Outcome

Paul Runge was sentenced to death for the 1997 rape and murder of a mother and her 10-year-old daughter. The record described that prosecutors planned further proceedings for other killings and that Runge was awaiting trial on five other slayings.

Runge pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting and killing four women and a 10-year-old girl in Cook County. The record stated that he previously pleaded not guilty in DuPage County to murder charges in the deaths of two Hanover Park sisters.

The record stated that prosecutors did not expect to try Runge on all cases, and it described that they planned to prosecute Frobel’s case with a trial later in the year.

Aftermath and related proceedings

The record described that Runge became the seventh person across Illinois sentenced to death since former Gov. George Ryan emptied death row in 2003, and that he became the fifth person sentenced to death in Cook County since the mass clemency.

The record stated that Illinois had a moratorium on executions since Gov. George Ryan halted executions in the state shortly before he left office, and that prosecutors were allowed to resume seeking the death penalty in criminal cases but that the state legislature had not lifted the ban.

It was stated that Cook County State’s Attorney Dick Devine said his office and the DuPage County prosecutor’s office would work to make sure Runge was eventually executed.

The record stated that Runge was due in court July 20 and that prosecutors planned to try the January 1995 slaying of Stacey Frobel later that year, and that a judge would decide whether to affirm the jury’s recommendation at a later court date mentioned in the record.

Other details

Runge was originally from Oak Forest and was serving time related to his earlier parole violation and prison escape.

The record listed victims as:

• Yolanda Gutierrez
• Jessica Muniz
• Stacey Frobel
• Dzeneta Pasanbegovic
• Amela Pasanbegovic
• Dorota Dziubak
• Kazimiera Paruch

It was stated that the victims’ homes were set on fire in four cases. It was also stated that prosecutors described the killings as vicious and brutal.

The record stated that Runge was charged in Cook County with five counts of first-degree murder, sexual assault and armed robbery, and in DuPage County with the July 1995 sexual assault and killing of two women lured to a house where he was living in Glendale Heights.

The record stated that Runge was held in the DuPage County jail without bond.

The record stated that runge was awaiting trial on five other slayings while sentencing was carried out for the Gutierrez and Muniz murders.

The record included a written response attributed to Runge. It quoted him: “I don’t let myself accept I’m guilty of these crimes,” and also quoted him: “I feel bad about the pain I’ve caused but the self-defense part of my brain doesn’t let me identify the crimes with me. “Without truly accepting my actions, there will never be an equal amount of guilt and remorse. To fully accept and realize my actions would kill me.”

The record stated that Runge denied repeated media requests for an interview but agreed to answer some Daily Herald questions through his father as intermediary, including one regarding remorse.

The record also stated that prosecutors and family members testified about the crimes during the sentencing hearing, with police, assistant state's attorneys, and family members of the victims testifying.

For Dorota Dziubak and Kazimiera Paruch, it was stated that both women had residences up for sale, and that their burned bodies were discovered after firefighters extinguished separate fires.

For Stacey Frobel, it was stated that police quickly focused on Frobel and Runge after Frobel was last seen at the couple's home and that the police found traces of her blood in the home but lacked enough evidence for an arrest at first.