Joliet woman killed in murder-suicide alleged husband physically abused her

A Joliet woman who was killed in a murder-suicide on a public street Saturday alleged in court filings that her husband was physically abusive to her, did not fear the police and would take away her phone so she could not call for help.

At 11:10 a.m. Saturday, officers responded to the fatal stabbing of Melissa Aud-Headlee, 35, in the 3400 block of Pandola Avenue in Joliet. She had been stabbed multiple times in the chest.

Joliet police said witnesses saw the alleged attacker later stab himself several times in the chest. That man, found on a nearby driveway, was identified by the Will County Coroner’s Office as Michael Aud-Headlee, 32, of Carmi, who was the woman’s husband.

Will County court records show a troubled past between the husband and wife, who were in the middle of a divorce before Saturday’s tragedy occurred.

Melissa petitioned two protective orders against her husband in Will County on Jan. 20, 2022, and Nov. 27, 2023, according to court records.

While judges granted emergency orders for both petitions, those cases were later dismissed. The 2022 case was dismissed at the request of Melissa Aud-Headlee, and the 2023 case was dismissed when the couple did not show up to court.

In the 2022 protective order, Melissa Aud-Headlee alleged that Michael physically abused her, and she had to take her children to their grandparents’ house to get them “out of the situation” after her husband said he was “going to ‘terrorize” her children.

“The abuse from Michael is so severe and so extreme that the trauma is preventing me from being able to remember every exact date and time,” she said in the protective order.

She alleged she had “countless texts and video of the things” her husband has done to her but he “takes my phone so I cannot call for help.”

Melissa Aud-Headlee’s 2023 protective order alleged her husband had been “recently released from the hospital for hallucinating” and that he claimed to feel bugs on himself and his family.

“I told the children to lock themselves in the bedroom. I tried to gather belongings for me and the children without him noticing because I fear for our safety,” she said in the protective order.

She alleged her husband “does not fear police.”

On July 19, 2023, Melissa Aud-Headlee was charged with the misdemeanor offense of domestic battery over allegations that she bit her husband “about the finger.” She pleaded not guilty to the charge.

She was arrested by Joliet police but the charge was dismissed on Feb. 28 because of “no complaining witness,” according to the court docket.

Not too long before then – on Jan. 31 – Melissa Aud-Headlee filed for divorce. Her petition for divorce said “irreconcilable differences” caused an “irretrievable breakdown” of the marriage.

According to Joliet police, the divorce was proceeding as of Saturday when a disturbance between the two of them at the Pandola Avenue residence caused her to run from the house, police said.

Michael Aud-Headlee, who was armed with a kitchen knife, caught up with Melissa and stabbed her multiple times before killing himself, police said. Police recovered the knife.

A 3-year-old son was in the home during the incident but was not harmed, according to police. No one else was found in the house.

Both Melissa and Michael Aud-Headlee were pronounced dead shortly after noon at Ascension Saint Joseph–Joliet Hospital.