William R. Zientek
Prosecutors say a Barrington man accused of fatally shooting his estranged girlfriend in the chest Sunday “savagely beat her with a baseball bat” before opening fire.
William R. Zientek, 46, of the 400 block of West Russell Street, was remanded to the Cook County jail following a detention hearing Wednesday before Judge Ellen Mandeltort at the Rolling Meadows courthouse.
Zientek is charged with first-degree murder in endocrinologist Olga Duchon’s death. Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Mack said the pair were parents of a 3-year-old child.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Mack said Zientek invited Duchon to his home to have a discussion and instead killed her with a gun he had reported stolen.
Zientek’s attorney, Thomas Glasgow, claims the shooting was self-defense.
Mack told the judge the couple’s relationship ended in 2021 over Duchon’s objections to Zientek purchasing and storing firearms in their home. Duchon obtained an order of protection against the defendant which required him to surrender his firearms, Mack said. That order revoked his Firearm Owner’s Identification card.
Mack said Zientek asked Duchon to come to his home Sunday to talk. Video shows her arriving at Zientek’s home with a tote bag containing leftovers and baked goods about 5:18 p.m. Sunday.
The former couple conversed in the defendant’s living room where prosecutors say Zientek struck Duchon with a baseball bat, once in the back of the head and once on the top of her head, fracturing her skull, Mack said.
He then shot Duchon, Mack said. The bullet struck her liver, heart and aorta and lodged in her spine.
Officers arrived in response to Zientek’s 911 call and found Duchon laying on her side with a child’s blanket over her, Mack said. Officers recovered a 9 mm handgun, fired cartridges and a baseball bat. In the attached garage, officers found a backpack containing 9 mm bullets and an empty holster.
Duchon’s Apple Watch showed her heart stopped at 5:25 p.m. Zientek called police at 5:33 p.m., according to Mack.
Zientek told officers he shot Duchon in self-defense, according to Mack.
Glasgow reiterated that claim.
According to Glasgow, Zientek filed a report with Barrington police the day before the shooting alleging the former couple’s child was being molested by a relative.
Glasgow said Duchon had asked to come to Zientek’s house to see the child who is “the subject of a paternity action,” according to Glasgow who said his client told Duchon he was filing a petition to remove the child from her.
During the conversation, Duchon pulled a weapon on Zientek who saw the weapon covered with a blanket, Glasgow said.
The child, who was present at the time of the shooting, told authorities Duchon “was holding a gun, pointing it at my client,” Glasgow said. The child repeated that statement to other individuals, he added.
If convicted of murder with a firearm, Zientek faces between 45 and 85 years in prison. He next appears in court on Dec. 13.
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