Nicole Abusharif

Name: Nicole Abusharif

Number of victims: 1

Date of murder: March 15, 2007

Date of arrest: March 17, 2007

Victim profile: Rebecca "Becky" Klein, 32 (her lesbian lover)

Method of murder: Suffocation with a plastic bag

Location: Villa Park, DuPage County, Illinois, USA

Status: Abusharif was sentenced to 50 years in prison, with no parole eligibility, on July 27, 2009

Nicole Abusharif is an American woman who was convicted of the murder of her lesbian lover, Rebecca "Becky" Klein. Abusharif was sentenced to 50 years in prison on July 27, 2009, and is being held at the Dwight Correctional Center in Nevada Township, Illinois. Before Klein's death, the couple had been together for 7 years.

Rebecca Klein's body was discovered in the trunk of her 1966 Ford Mustang on March 17, 2007, outside the couple's Oak Lawn apartment, after Abusharif had reported her partner missing. Klein was bound with duct tape, gagged with a bandana, blindfolded, and suffocated with a plastic bag which was still over her head. Four days after the body was found, Abusharif was charged with first-degree murder and concealing of a homicide. It is believed that Abusharif killed Klein two days before the body was found (March 15, 2007).

During the investigation, it was revealed that Abusharif was having an affair with 19-year-old Rose Sodaro, whom she met on MySpace. Investigators discovered that Abusharif had told Sodaro a number of lies about her life, including that she had been a New York firefighter during the 9/11 attacks, and that she had developed lung cancer due to her alcoholism. She took the cancer lie as far as taking Sodaro to a funeral home to pick out a casket for her funeral. Sodaro was also under the impression that Klein was Abusharif's roommate, not her life partner. On the day Klein was killed, Abusharif went bowling with Sodaro in Tinley Park, then returned to Abusharif's apartment and engaged in sexual intercourse.

During the investigation, police charged a co-worker of Abusharif, Robert L. Edwards, with five counts of obstructing justice for allegedly lying about his whereabouts when Klein was thought to have been murdered. The focus was on Edwards because he had been present at Klein and Abusharif's apartment on March 16, during the search for Klein. It was later admitted by Edwards that he and Abusharif were "drug buddies who shared wild sex fantasies." Edwards was initially on a $1 million bail, which was later reduced to $500,000.

In addition to the motive of her relationship with Sodaro, police also believed Abusharif was motivated to murder Klein due to a $400,000 life insurance payout. Forensic scientists discovered Abusharif's fingerprints on the duct tape and plastic bag, as well as her DNA on the bandana, used to gag Klein. Four days after Klein's body was found, Abusharif was arrested and indicted on first-degree murder charges. She was held at DuPage County Jail on a $3 million bond, which was later lowered to $1 million. Abusharif was bailed out of jail and was put on home confinement. On April 25, 2008, Abusharif violated her bail by leaving her apartment to visit a family member next door. Although the Assistant State's Attorney asked for Abusharif's bail to be revoked, it was only increased by $100,000. She was returned to jail and was out on bail before her trial began in April 2009.

Robert L. Edwards went on trial in November 2008, charged with obstructing justice. Police did not believe he was involved in Klein's murder, but he was convicted of the obstruction charges. He was charged and sentenced to 75 days at the DuPage County, Illinois work camp.

Abusharif's trial started on April 20, 2009. Edwards did not testify on behalf of the prosecution, but Rose Sodaro did, as well as members of Klein's family. Abusharif also testified in her own defense. When she was confronted with the evidence against her, she admitted that she had lied during the police investigation. The defense's argument hinged on whether Abusharif was actually physically capable of killing Klein.

The defense attorneys maintained that Abusharif had a bad back, and would, therefore, have been unable to subdue Klein, who weighed roughly 40 pounds more than her. Abusharif's attorneys were skeptical of gaining an acquittal, but they were able to prove that Klein's murder was not "cold, calculated and premeditated," as claimed by the prosecution. This eliminated the possibility of a sentence of life in prison with no eligibility for parole.

On May 5, 2009, Abusharif was convicted of first-degree murder after thirteen hours of jury deliberation. She faced up to 60 years in prison, but the judge sentenced her to 50 years incarceration. She will have to serve 100 percent of her sentence before being eligible for parole, at the age of 76.

Abusharif appealed the conviction but the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the conviction on March 4, 2011.