Plea Deal in Works For Romeoville Man Charged in Hammer Attack?

A Romeoville man charged with bashing his wife's head with a claw hammer and then hiding her body for 10 days in their Grand Haven subdivision home may be nearing a plea deal with prosecutors.

The attorney for 69-year-old John Sadler asked Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak during a Monday morning hearing if she would give him more time to negotiate with prosecutors.

After the hearing, attorney Ignatius Villasenor said he did not know if a plea deal would be reached by Sadler's next court date on Feb. 20. Sadler stayed silent as he left the courthouse and did not answer questions.

Sadler was first charged with murder after the Romeoville police found the 10-day-old corpse of his wife, Carol Sadler, 66, in their Benzie Circle home in July 2010.

Sadler, a retired accountant, was jailed on a murder charge soon after the grisly discovery and held on a $3 million bond. But three months later prosecutors dropped the charges to the aggravated battery of a senior citizen and aggravated domestic battery. Sadler's bond was reduced to $300,000.

Sadler posted the $30,000 of that $300,000 he needed for his freedom right after the bond reduction and has been out and about ever since.

Sadler reportedly had admitted to police that he hit his wife in the head with a hammer.

The autopsy performed on Carol Sadler's body showed that even though her husband of 46 years may have hit her in the head with a hammer, the blow was not what killed her. Carol Sadler instead succumbed to a heart attack.

The aggravated battery of a senior citizen charge carries a mandatory sentence of three to seven years in prison.

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