SUN CITY – In early 2000, Bill Reitzel moved to Sun City while pursuing a lifelong career of buying and selling real estate. In 2006, when the housing market was still going strong, he moved out of his Sun City home in Neighborhood 10 and rented it out, along with other properties in the Schaumburg and Huntley areas.
On Monday, March 26, Sun City renter Robert Signorile was arrested in connection with the death of his partner Michelle Mathieu. (Photo provided)
In 2008, the economy, particularly the housing market, suddenly took a nosedive. Reitzel struggled to maintain financial viability and was partially successful. He rented his Sun City home to several parties, but by 2011, he was behind in his mortgage payments and the home went into foreclosure.
In August, he was approached by a couple who said they lived in DuPage County but wanted to move to the Huntley area. They offered him several thousand dollars in rent money up front. Anxious to maintain the $900 monthly rental income from the property, Reitzel signed a lease with Robet Signorile and Michelle Mathieu.
“The couple seemed very nice,” he said.
He had no idea the financial difficulties he was experiencing would soon get much worse.
On March 18, Huntley police were called to the home on a complaint of a woman falling and injuring herself. Mathieu was hospitalized with multiple upper body and head injuries, which police said were evidence of domestic abuse. She died in Sherman Hospital on Saturday, March 24. Neighbors learned about the incident on Sunday, when they spoke to relatives of Mathieu that came to the home. Signorile was arrested at another area hospital on Monday, March 26 and charged with murder in connection with the incident. He was jailed at the McHenry County Jail on $2 million bond. At a bond hearing on March 29, court records reveal that Signorile’s attorneys waived their right to ask for a reduction in the bond, and the case was continued until April 4.
“I checked on the house in September, and everything was fine. And I noticed they were very orderly with all their stuff,” Reitzel said last week. “I was glad I’d get some income from the house while foreclosure went on. About a month later, I heard that there was a domestic abuse incident and the lady [Mathieu] had obtained a restraining order against the man, and he had left. I heard he came back a few months later.
“Then last week, I got a call from a Huntley police detective telling me what happened and asking me what I knew of this couple,” Reitzel continued. “It was a shock. I took a chance in this case, and it just didn’t work out. I normally do credit checks on my renters before I sign a lease, but I didn’t do it in this case. However, finances or rent payments weren’t an issue. They gave me many months of rent money in advance. I am so sorry for all of this; I especially feel bad for my neighbors, whom I know and remember from my time there. I acted in good faith, but the situation just went bad.”
Robin Longnecker, director of governance and standards for the Sun City Community Association, said the couple was in violation of the age requirements.
“The age standards and rental regulations are the same for renters as they are for owners,” she said. “We were not notified that this house had been rented, and the occupants were not qualified,” she said.
Mathieu, the victim in the murder case, was 52, police said, and Signorile was 43. Association covenants require at least one occupant of a home to be 55 or over.
“Michelle told me she was in her 50s,” Reitzel said. He added that he hasn’t been back to the home since last fall. “It’s in foreclosure, and I believe the bank bought the property earlier this year,” he said.
“Our regulations require owners to notify us if a home is rented, and to confirm that the renters conform with the age requirements,” Longnecker said. “Sometimes, the notification isn’t done, because owners simply aren’t aware of the requirements.”
Sun City is a seniors-only subdivision, which has myriad activities in neighborhoods and at numerous recreational and athletic venues located throughout its 4,000-plus acres. Linda Carroll, who lives across the street from the victim’s home, said Neighborhood 10 has a steady stream of social events that encourage residents to get to know one another.
“We reached out repeatedly to Michelle, and she seemed friendly, but she never responded or came to anything,” Carroll said. “She kept to herself and didn’t come out of her home very much.”
