A Chicago woman who was sentenced for murdering and dismembering her landlord won $3 million in a lawsuit against the city’s transit authority while in jail awaiting trial, court records have revealed.
It was October 2022 when the remains of 69-year-old Frances Walker were found in a freezer in her home, where she had rented a room to 36-year-old Sandra Kolalou, Breitbart News reported.
The victim had served Kolalou with an eviction notice shortly before her murder, and “many of the tenants who lived in this house were afraid of this individual,” according to Chicago Police Department Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan.
Kolalou, who is now 39, was found guilty of first-degree murder, dismemberment, and aggravated identity theft in April and sentenced to nearly 60 years in prison for those charges in July, WGN9 reported.
However, CWBChicago recently revealed that the convicted murderer became the recipient of a $3 million payout stemming from a March 2018 incident in which a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus struck her on a crosswalk.
Citing permanent back injuries, potential future surgeries, and experiencing a “10 out of 10” level of severe pain in her lower back and legs, Kolalou sued the CTA and the bus driver, court records that the outlet obtained show.
Just four months before the civil suit was scheduled for trial, she was charged with Walker’s murder.
In order to shield the jury in the civil suit from Kolalou’s crimes, the judge overseeing the case permitted her to go by Sandra White, her maiden name.
She won the money on February 27, 2023, though the CTA was able to get a new trial after citing poor audio quality from Kolalou’s deposition — which she gave from the Cook County Jail — and her alleged failure to disclose social media accounts, where she posted images of herself “cliff-jumping, swimming with the dolphins, roller-skating, playing tennis, wearing high heels, and traveling to far-away destinations such as Egypt, South Africa, and Mexico.”
These lavish trips were taken while she was supposedly in severe pain from the bus accident.
A second trial took place in fall 2023, but the new jury reached nearly the same verdict, awarding Kolalou $2.8 million plus costs.
The CTA unsuccessfully tried to obtain a third trial and is still appealing the results.
“Lawyers for [the] CTA are expected to argue that her life in prison will have a different value than if she were free, and she will not be paying for private medical services while behind bars,” CWBChicago reported.
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