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Nov 28, 2005 7:00 pm US/Central
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Woman Found Stabbed To Death In Evanston Apartment
Woman's Name Has Not Been Released
by Derrick Blakley
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) ―
A suburban mother found murdered inside her home has left neighbors of a quiet neighborhood stunned.
Neighbors called police when they heard screams Sunday night and found 43-year-old Linda Twyman dead in her apartment building on Ashland in Evanston.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports police may have found the murder weapon.
While Evanston police have not confirmed that, a neighbor says officers canvassing the area discovered a long knife in her backyard. That yard is located about 150 yards from the apartment where Twyman died of multiple stab wounds. It is also directly in the line of flight police believe the suspects took.
Tina Knox was shocked when police found a foot-long knife hidden inside her backyard barbeque grill.
"It looked like a long kitchen knife with a brown handle, but not like something we would have in our household," Knox said.
Shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday, police were called to the apartment in the 1100 block of Ashland when a neighbor reported hearing a woman screaming.
Police found the building's rear door and Twyman's apartment door wide open. Inside the 43-year-old travel agent was dead.
Neighbors who knew 43-year-old Linda Twyman are unnerved by the news of her violent death and by the fact that it happened in an otherwise quiet neighborhood.
"I'm still in shock," said Twyman's friend, Dan Decleene. "She was just a great girl. A friend of ours for 25 years."
His wife, Ann Decleene, was Twyman's best friend. She was planning to meet her Monday afternoon to go to the planetarium.
Decleene says he can't believe anyone wanted to hurt Twyman.
"It's absolutely impossible. She was just the sweetest girl, she had no enemies," he said.
Witnesses reportedly saw two men in hooded shirts running from the rear of Twyman's building. Now as investigators record footprints suspects may have left in the mud, Twyman's grieving friends and neighbors are restless.
"We are a very quiet street, and all the neighbors know everybody. To think that someone came here to do something terrible to somebody is very frightening," said neighbor Mary Krawczyk.
Police have not said whether Twyman was targeted or the victim of a random crime.
When asked about a possible motive, Deputy Chief Bellino said, "It's too early right now to speculate."
Evanston Police say they have not had any recent trouble at Twyman's apartment building. Her friends say Twyman was a travel agent. Twyman was divorced and lived alone. She has a sister in the south suburbs and a 20-year-old daughter, who lives in Oregon.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)