Ashwani K Shamlodhiya, 29, a native of India, worked
at Lucent Technologies in Naperville. Li worked at the now-shuttered
Tellabs facility in Bolingbrook.
On Sept. 11, West Chicago firefighters uncovered a gruesome
murder scene after extinguishing an arson fire. Under a pile of clothing
in the home's basement lay the bludgeoned body of Sichang "Michael"
Li, the 35-year-old homeowner.
Police first suspected he may have been killed by a
home invader. They soon turned their attention to Li's boarder, who
had been renting a room in the home for the past six months. The man's
long-anticipated trial opened Thursday in DuPage County. Ashwani , faces
the rest of his life in prison if a jury convicts him of first-degree
murder and arson.
He is accused of attacking Li, most likely with a hammer,
in the home on the 2700 block of Bainbridge Boulevard. Li was killed
on the main level of his home and then dragged into the basement.
Mr. Shamlodhiya deliberately set two fires to try to
cover up the murder," prosecutor Alex McGimpsey said. "Little
did firefighters know when they responded to what they thought was a
fire that it actually was a crime scene."
Wen "Susan" Li testified before the DuPage
Circuit Judge George Bakalis Friday that she began a sexual affair with
Shamlodhiya shortly after he moved into the couple's home.
Her testimony has provided the motive for the crime,
prosecutors said, according to a report in the Daily Herald, published
from Chicago.
Li said she considered it a fun fling, but Shamlodhiya
on one occasion professed his love for her.
The wife said she didn't believe him and even told him
that she knew he planned to wed another woman in his native India.
"I just needed company," Li said. "(I
was) just having fun," the wife reportedly told the jury.
The wife, who had been at work, testified that she had
not told her husband about the affair, but felt that he might have had
suspicions about it.
Prosecutors finished presenting their evidence with
her testimony. The jury may begin its deliberations Tuesday after lawyers
finish closing arguments.
Prosecutors said Shamlodhiya told police he awoke in
the basement after flames had spread throughout the house. Trapped,
Shamlodhiya busted out a basement window and screamed for help. A construction
crew working across the street in the Cornerstone Lakes subdivision
came to his rescue.
The men testified Thursday Shamlodhiya first told them
his landlord attacked him. He later changed his story, the men testified,
and mentioned the intruder.