A Naperville man accused of killing his ex-wife after hearing her use a derogatory word to describe his new wife will remain in jail as he awaits trial.
Zokir S. Kudratov, 55, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing Saturday of ex-wife Rahima Kudratova at the Naperville home they shared.
In a motion to detain the defendant, Will County prosecutors said Kudratov stabbed his 48-year-old former wife more than 30 times in the attack.
Zokir Kudratov
Courtesy of Will County Sheriff
Kudratov looked toward the floor Wednesday as he listened to his Russian interpreter during his court appearance. At one point he began speaking to Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak, but stopped after conversing with his public defender.
Though the two divorced more than 10 years ago, Kudratov and his ex-wife shared a home in the 2500 block of Saddlebrook Drive in the White Eagle subdivision, living on separate floors. Naperville police were called to the home Saturday morning after the couple’s teenage daughter discovered her father stabbing her mother, authorities say.
“Why did she take everything from me,” Kudratov reportedly replied to his teenage daughter when she asked why he stabbed her mother, according to court documents.
Will County Assistant Public Defender Raymond Durrenberger noted Wednesday that Kudratov takes medications for various health conditions, including anxiety. Court documents also indicate Kudratov was intoxicated the day of the stabbing.
When police arrived at the couple’s home Saturday morning, they found Kudratov in an upstairs hallway, wearing blood-spattered clothes, authorities said. He told police “sorry” and “Russian” when officers tried speaking with him and later made a “finger gun” symbol with his hand, pointed at his chest and made a gunshot sound, according to court documents.
Kudratov told investigators he heard his former wife describe his current wife, who lives in Uzbekistan, with a derogatory term while she was speaking on the phone in the kitchen, authorities say.
He said he grabbed a knife and followed his ex-wife to her bedroom on the second floor. Though normally locked with a PIN code needed to enter, Kudratov told investigators the door was open when he entered, according to court documents.
When he confronted his ex-wife an argument ensued and he began stabbing her, according to court documents. The couple’s teenage daughter and a daughter-in-law heard the disturbance, went to Kudratova’s bedroom and saw she had been stabbed, authorities say. Kudratov stabbed his ex-wife two more times as his daughter tried to stop him, they added.
When the couple’s teenage daughter was able to grab the knife from her father, he looked at her and said he was sorry and then stomped on his ex-wife’s head, according to court documents.
Assistant Will County State’s Attorney Katie Rabenda Wednesday said family members told investigators Kudratov had a history of violence and had hit his ex-wife before. The couple’s teenage daughter also told investigators Kudratov stabbed her mother once before in November and showed investigators a photo of Kudratova in an Uzbekistan hospital with a stab wound to her leg, authorities say.
Kudratov will appear before a Will County judge for arraignment on July 25.