Police documents paint a chilling picture of the shocking murders in Romeoville – NBC Chicago

Police documents revealed the results of a years-long investigation into a horrific murder that stunned a suburban Chicago community, answering questions that long remained a mystery – including the possible motive for the killings.

More than 100 pages of investigative analysis into the 2023 murders of a Romeoville family of four, including their two young children and three dogs, were released publicly Thursday.

Zoraida Bartolomei, Alberto Rolon, their two boys and three dogs were found massacred in their home on September 17, 2023, after police were called for a health check.

The investigation into their murders ultimately led police on a bizarre and deadly chase in Oklahoma that sparked a years-long search for answers that went beyond what many could have expected.

Affairs and fraud: Suspected shooter believes he worked for Mexican cartel

According to the reports, the case began long before the murders with an affair between Bartolomei and her colleague Nathaniel Huey Jr.

According to police, Huey Jr.'s partner, Ermalinda Palomo, knew Huey Jr. was having an affair and created a series of fake social media accounts to make Huey Jr. believe he was working with members of a Mexican cartel , which ultimately was the case by ordering him to commit the murders.

“Ermalinda (as one of her fictional characters) frequently referred to Nathaniel's relationship with Ermalinda. She encouraged Nathaniel to remain faithful in his relationship, to stop talking to other women, to treat Ermalinda kindly, and to engage in sexual intimacy with Ermalinda. ” the police reports say. “Communication with Nathaniel eventually led to Ermalinda convincing Nathaniel that he was under constant surveillance by the organization and that the leaders were questioning his loyalty and trustworthiness. Based on years of communication, Nathaniel's response appears to be this to indicate that he fully believed the information Ermalinda conveyed to him, but did not know that Ermalinda was the person he was communicating with.

Their communications through fake accounts and phone numbers extended to both Bartolomei and Rolon, revealing details of the affair and threatening the family.

The “mole”, the murder and the motive

On Sept. 14, Palomo allegedly sent Huey Jr. a message from a spoofed phone number, telling Huey Jr. that Bartolomei was a “mole” who was targeting him, police reports said.

In the days that followed, Huey Jr. called in sick for work and began planning her murder using the fake accounts he believed were members of the cartel, police said.

“They scouted the neighborhood to find cameras, planned how to get in and out of the house, and learned that the house behind Zoraida's was vacant,” the report says, adding that Huey Jr. was in the was reportedly instructed to make the crime scene “look like it was there.” A burglary committed by children.”

Huey Jr. assumed he was working for a cartel hitman and later carried out the killings while Palomo waited in the car, police said.

As he entered the home, police said Huey Jr. cut two screens to indicate a possible break-in before entering through an unlocked door to the kitchen.

As Rolon left his room to see what the noise was about, Huey Jr. began firing shots. As Rolon ran toward the bedrooms of Bartolomei and her two children, he was shot multiple times, according to police.

He then continued into a bedroom where Bartolomei and her two children were, eventually firing shots through the door, hitting Bartolomei several times before entering the room and firing again, killing the two children.

Spray paint was found on walls in what police said was an attempt to “deter investigators by making it appear as if children were committing a senseless crime.”

Two dogs were shot in the kitchen and a third was shot in a bedroom, police said.

After the murders, Huey Jr. and the fake account run by Palomo discuss the murders, with Huey Jr. expressing concern that he forgot to take the phones from Bartolomei and Rolon.

The police make a shocking discovery

On Sept. 17, Romeoville police were called to the home for a wellness check. Rolon didn't show up for work and Bartolomei's family couldn't reach her or the boys.

When Romeoville officers arrived, they found a crack in a window and saw overturned tables inside. As they went to the back, they saw two dead dogs and shouted for entry.

Inside, the house was full of horror.

Bartolomei, Rolon, the two children and dogs were shot. According to a Romeoville police report obtained by NBC Chicago, the family members were shot a total of 20 times.

The investigation begins

Using doorbells, IPASS data, cell towers and stove camera systems, police were able to track a suspicious vehicle on a route from Streamwood to Romeoville. The vehicle was driven by Huey Jr.

The morning after the murders, Huey Jr. went to work, police said, and discovered that she had interviewed him at work that same day.

“Nathaniel admitted his relationship with Zoraida but denied any involvement in the murders. He refused to allow police to search his GMC Yukon at this time,” the police report states. “Later that day he was seen handing a bag of firearms from his GMC to another person. The bag and its contents were later confiscated.”

When police went to a home Huey Jr. shared with Palomo, they said they saw the suspect vehicle in the Romeoville murders parked at the end of the street.

That same day, Huey Jr. and Palomo traveled to a nearby Target store. Huey Jr. met with his mother while Palomo waited in the car.

During that meeting, police said Huey Jr. confessed to the murders, although it was not clear whether the mother immediately informed police of the confession.

The next day, Palomo was reported missing by family members and the couple fled.

As police across Illinois tracked the vehicle, authorities said there was “no probable cause for an arrest as part of this investigation.”

Suspicious vehicle leads to chase in Oklahoma

A swarm camera system in Catoosa, Oklahoma later captured Huey Jr. and Palomo's vehicle at a Walmart.

Newly released bodycam footage captures the final moments before the deaths of the suspects involved in the shocking Romeoville murders of 2023.

Video obtained by NBC Chicago from Catoosa police showed the two entering the store side by side, purchasing electronics and in the makeup aisles.

As they left the store, the Catoosa officers stood in the parking lot, smiling and waiting for the camera. Video showed officers chasing the suspects, who managed to flee in their vehicle.

The police chase ended in a fiery crash on an Oklahoma highway. Police said Huey Jr. shot Palomo and then himself.

“As police approached, the GMC fled. A short time later, the GMC slid toward the center divider and crashed before coming to a stop. After the vehicle came to a stop, a fire broke out near the driver's compartment, which may have been started by Nathaniel,” the report states. “Nathaniel shot Ermalinda in the head, killing her. He shot himself in the chin, but that shot didn't kill him, so he shot himself in the head again. They both died.”

Oklahoma officials could be heard on body cameras saying Huey Jr. was an “armed and dangerous murder suspect” from Illinois.

Another person was heard saying, “She's the endangered missing person, he's the murder suspect.” A responding officer replied, “It didn't look like she was being held against her will.”

The investigation ends

Police said that while the latest findings mark the end of their months-long investigation, they do not end the pain suffered by many following the gruesome killings.

“The tragic deaths of a young family, including two young children, will forever impact the surviving family and those who investigated this case,” Romeoville Police Chief Brant Hromadka said in a news release. “Nothing can prepare a person for such an incident and nothing can justify such a senseless act of violence. Unfortunately, while this case is closed, the finality of this case does not provide closure for so many who continue to grieve.”