UPDATE
I recently learned through the Chicago Tribune that a scumbag was apprehended for the murders of Roberto Soto and Kathryn Romberg. Jason Austin, 26, of the 500 block of North LeClaire Avenue was charged with two counts of murder and one count of robbery, police said. He was ordered held without bail by Cook County Criminal Court Judge Laura Sullivan at a hearing Monday afternoon. Soto played a key role in finding Austin, said Chief of Detectives Thomas Byrne.”If we didn’t have Detective Soto’s own words, motive would have been open to speculation,” he said, adding that robbery was the motive. The criminal activity in Chicago is in dire need of attention. It is a shame that these armed thugs are running around wreaking havoc on innocent lives. According to the police, Austin has five felony convictions on his record, mostly for narcotics. The Tribune is reporting that Austin is believed to head a robbery crew based in the area near Kedzie Avenue and Ohio Street.Though I felt that there was more to the situation than the cops were letting on, I stand corrected.
Robert Soto, a 23-year-veteran of the Chicago Police Department died after being shot during, what the police is calling an apparent robbery attempt in the West Side’s Garfield Park neighborhood. He was shot during while sitting in an SUV with Kathryn Romberg, who authorities said died on the scene.
Soto, a detective with the police Bomb & Arson Section, and Romberg were shot about 1:30 a.m. while sitting in the officer’s personal car at the 3000 block of West Franklin Boulevard near Romberg’s home, police said. Police did not provide information about why Soto and Romberg were in the SUV. Very interesting, but does not take away from the fact that two innocent people were shot and killed by armed thugs.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, neighbors reported hearing loud voices about 90 minutes before gunshots rang out on the block of condos. “I heard him say, ‘Help me,’” resident Britany Russell, 24, said. “Then the cops pulled up minutes later.” Russell said she had called the police at midnight because of loud voices coming from the black SUV Soto and Romberg were sitting in. Then, at 1:30 a.m., she heard several shots in a row. “I went out to look. I noticed it’s the same car,” she said. “The driver was laying on the horn.” Again, very interesting.
Authorities said that Romberg, a single mother, was a supervisor with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. She also had a real estate license. Somehow this reminds me of the Morgan Freeman incident, but I’ll wait until the truth comes to light. It is really sad that these people lost their lives so senselessly.
UPDATE
I just spoke to an acquaintance of Kathryn Romberg and he paints a picture similiar to what I had already formulated in my mind. He said that he has known Ms. Romberg for 12 years and they were co-workers at the Department of Children & Family Services. He stated that he went to dinner with Ms. Romberg last Thursday and she had told him she wanted to get out of the relationship with Robert Soto, especially in light of the fact that he was married. According to my source, Soto told her that he was estranged from his wife, which was not the case. He was still very much married and this all culminated in an altercation with him, his wife and Romberg recently. In fact, according to my source, the detective and Ms. Romberg were in a relationship for two years.
As I hinted, it seems very interesting that he would be in front of her condominium at that time of the night. It also fits with Britany Russell’s statements that she heard people arguing. I have to state that, in my opinion, this was no robbery. There is definitely more to this than the cops are divulging at this point. If this was a murder-suicide, then the coroner(s) will definitely know that fact right away. Secondly, if someone put a hit out on these two people, then that is another story, that will be revealed with time. As I said before, this seems a little too interesting to be taken at face value. This cop was in a car with a woman after midnight and he is a married man. Hat tips to my source in Chi-town and my deepest condolences to her daughter, family and friends!
Filed under: Chicago Police, Kathryn Romberg, Robert Soto
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