Katherine Torbick, 43, was found dead after police forced entry during a welfare check.
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Katherine D. Torbick was a nurse, a mother and a coworker remembered for warmth before her name became attached to a Cook County murder case built on an alleged seven-hour recording.
Torbick, 43, was found dead April 30 inside a home in northwest suburban Schaumburg. Her longtime boyfriend, Kevin D. Motykie, 56, is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault. Prosecutors say Motykie recorded the hourslong attack that ended with Torbick’s strangulation. The charges have drawn attention not only because of the alleged recording, but also because Torbick had reported a prior attack weeks earlier.
Fox River MedSpa in Algonquin, where Torbick worked, called her a teammate and friend after her death. The workplace said she brought warmth, energy and genuine care to the job and had become part of its “sisterhood.” Torbick had also worked for many years as a nurse. Public tributes described her as “Kat,” a caregiver who connected with clients and coworkers. Prosecutors have said she was the mother of a 12-year-old boy. In court accounts, Torbick’s concern for her son appears in the final hours of her life, when she pleaded about wanting him during the recorded attack.
The police response began with worry from someone outside the home. A caller told dispatchers Torbick could not be reached and asked officers to check on her. Schaumburg police went to the 1700 block of West Weathersfield Way at about 9:20 p.m. Officers already knew of a recent domestic violence report at the residence and knew Motykie had a pending arrest warrant in an aggravated domestic battery case involving Torbick. When no one answered, officers forced their way inside. They found Torbick dead on a couch with signs of trauma. Motykie was found in the garage.
Authorities said Motykie appeared highly intoxicated when police encountered him. Court records say he had trouble standing, slurred his speech and told officers he had taken lorazepam and hydrocodone. Police took him to St. Alexius Medical Center before he was released into custody. During the arrest, officers recovered a digital recording device from his pocket, prosecutors said. They also recovered handcuffs and a key. In the garage, police noted a rope tied into a noose. Those items became part of a case that soon shifted from a welfare check to a murder and sexual assault prosecution.
Prosecutors said the recorder contained audio beginning around 2 a.m. and running more than seven hours. They said it captured Motykie placing Torbick in handcuffs, restraining her with duct tape, beating her, sexually assaulting her and accusing her of cheating. Torbick can be heard screaming and pleading for him to stop, according to the prosecution account. Motykie is also accused of making repeated threats to kill her. Prosecutors said the final minutes captured the fatal strangulation. The Cook County medical examiner ruled the cause of death as strangulation and the manner as homicide.
The relationship behind the case lasted about 10 years, according to authorities. Motykie and Torbick lived together at the Schaumburg home. Prosecutors said Torbick began dating another man in April after the relationship with Motykie ended or became strained. That man last heard from her the night before the welfare check and went to the home when he could not reach her again. Court records say Motykie’s accusations about cheating were heard on the recording. The same theme appeared in the earlier March case, when Torbick accused him of attacking her after similar accusations.
In the March report, prosecutors said Motykie strangled Torbick, hit her and threatened her with a knife. They said he forced her to begin writing a suicide note to her son while the boy slept in the home. Torbick escaped to a neighbor’s house, and the neighbor called 911. Officers documented injuries, and Torbick was taken to a hospital. Prosecutors said she later made a videotaped statement saying she feared Motykie would kill her. A warrant was issued March 16, but police did not take Motykie into custody before Torbick was found dead. Authorities also said Motykie had been the subject of three separate protective orders in earlier years.
The criminal case now turns on several layers of evidence: the medical examiner’s findings, police observations at the home, the alleged recording, the earlier domestic battery report and the statements Torbick made before her death. Prosecutors added aggravated criminal sexual assault counts after the detention hearing process began, saying the alleged assaults involved threats to Torbick’s life. Motykie was ordered held pending trial. He has not been convicted, and the allegations must be proved in court. Public reports did not show that he had entered a final plea by June 3.
The setting is an ordinary suburban block, about 30 miles northwest of Chicago, where a welfare check turned into a homicide investigation. The record now includes a mother’s workplace tribute, a neighbor’s emergency call from March, a caller’s concern in April and a court file that describes hours of alleged violence. For Torbick’s coworkers, the official language of the case sits beside the personal loss of someone they said cared deeply for others. For prosecutors, those details now move through court as part of the state’s effort to prove murder and sexual assault charges.
Motykie remained detained as the case proceeded in Cook County court. A May 29 appearance was reported in Rolling Meadows, and future hearings are expected to address discovery, evidence and scheduling. Torbick’s death remains classified as a homicide by strangulation.
Author note: Last updated June 3, 2026.