A 74-year-old man, who is a former Chicago police officer, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for fatally shooting his wife at their Spring Grove home in 2017.
Lorin Volberding, 74, was previously found guilty in September 2019 of two counts of first-degree murder by McHenry County Judge Michael Coppedge.
On Wednesday, Volberding was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He will be required to serve 100 percent of the sentence, according to truth-in-sentencing guidelines.
Prosecutors said that Volberding called his neighbor around 12:30 p.m. on February 3, 2017 and left a voicemail stating that he shot and killed his wife.
The neighbor called the Spring Grove Grove Police Department and officers were dispatched to the couple’s home in the 10800 block of East Riveria Drive.
A brief standoff ensued between police and Volberding before officers made entry into the home. Police found 68-year-old Elizabeth Volberding’s body on the kitchen floor.
She was pronounced dead after suffering a single gunshot wound, prosecutors said. Evidence presented at trial showed that Lorin shot Elizabeth during a domestic dispute, the McHenry County State’s Attorney said.
The Northwest Herald previously reported that Volberding’s firearm owner’s identification card had been revoked after he barricaded himself and his wife in their house in 2017 and threatened to kill the woman.
The case was investigated by the Spring Grove Police Department with the assistance of the Major Investigation Assistance Team (MIAT) and prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Combs and Michelle Clesceri.