WHEATON MAN PLEADS GUILTY, GETS 30 YEARS FOR MURDER OF HIS MOTHER

WHEATON - DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph E. Birkett announced today that Cliff W. Newcomer, 27 (d.o.b. 2/4/81), formerly of 0N108 Evans, unincorporated Wheaton, was sentenced to thirty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty but mentally ill to the murder of his fifty-five year-old mother Marilyn this morning.  Newcomer entered his plea of guilty to one count of First Degree Murder in front of Judge Blanche Fawell who imposed the sentence. 

            On January 12, 2006, at approximately 11:45 p.m., Marilyn Newcomer’s body was discovered by her husband in the family’s home when he returned from work.  An investigation by the State’s Attorney’s Office and the DuPage County Sheriff’s office revealed that Mrs. Newcomer had been initially choked/suffocated by her son Cliff, who had also slashed her throat with a knife.  The investigation also revealed that five days prior to the murder, Cliff Newcomer had threatened to kill his mother.  After the murder, Cliff Newcomer fled the home in his mother’s vehicle.  Cliff Newcomer was taken into custody the next day without incident.  A psychiatrist had diagnosed the defendant with bipolar disorder.

            “Two and one half years ago, Cliff Newcomer took the life of his mother, Marilyn,” remarked Birkett.  “In doing so however, he not only cost himself the next thirty years of his life, he also took a mother from his three brothers and a wife from his father.  There is nothing we can do to ease the tragic loss that Cliff Newcomer has brought upon his family, but perhaps they can take some solace in knowing that justice was served in the memory of Marilyn Newcomer.”   

            As part of the agreement, Newcomer will be required to serve 100% of his sentence. 

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