Barrington man indicted on first-degree murder charge in death of estranged girlfriend, a Lake County doctor

Cook County prosecutors on Friday announced an indictment against a Barrington man charged with fatally shooting his estranged girlfriend last month.

William R. Zientek, 46, is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 17 death of Vernon Hills endocrinologist Olga Duchon, who is the mother of their young child.

Zientek, who was remanded to the Cook County jail, will be arraigned Jan. 9 in Rolling Meadows.

After inviting Duchon to his home for a discussion, Zientek struck her twice in the head with a baseball bat and shot her with a gun that he previously reported stolen, prosecutors said.

Zientek’s attorney Thomas Glasgow claims that his client acted in self-defense.

Prosecutors said the couple was conversing in Zientek’s living room when he struck and shot her. Officers responding to Zientek’s 911 call found Duchon lying on her side with a child’s blanket over her. They recovered a 9 mm handgun, fired cartridges and a baseball bat. In the attached garage, officers found a backpack containing 9 mm bullets and an empty holster.

Glasgow said his client filed a report with Barrington police the day before the shooting alleging that the couple’s child was being molested by a relative.

Glasgow said Duchon had asked to come to Zientek’s house to see the child, who is “the subject of a paternity action.” He said his client told Duchon that he was filing a petition to remove the child from her.

During the conversation, Duchon pulled a weapon on Zientek, who saw the weapon covered with a blanket, Glasgow said.

The child, who was present at the time of the shooting, told authorities that Duchon “was holding a gun, pointing it at my client,” Glasgow said. The child repeated that statement to other individuals, he added.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241213/crime/barrington-man-indicted-for-estranged-girlfriends-murder/