Friday, August 26, 2011

Paul Runge serial killer, the sad end for two Bosnian sisters who escaped the hell in Sarajevo for a better life, only to end up in hell on earth

Imprisoned killer Paul Runge has been awaiting trial for the 1995 slayings of sisters Amela, top right, and Dzeneta Pasanbegovic. (Ill. Dept. of Corrections/family photos)
Twelve years after two Bosnian sisters disappeared from their Hanover Park apartment and six years after an accused serial killer allegedly said he murdered and dismembered them, their parents in Bosnia can get official death certificates.
A DuPage County judge has ordered that the documents be issued for Amela Pasanbegovic, 20, and her sister, Dzeneta, 22, based on a videotaped confession in 2001 by Paul Runge, even though the women's remains never were found. The sisters' parents had requested the death certificates, which have no legal bearing on the pending murder case, officials said.
Runge, now on Death Row for killing a Chicago woman and her 10-year-old daughter, told investigators that he beat, bound, raped and cut up the women after luring them to his Glendale Heights home with the promise of housecleaning jobs.
Runge said he put their body parts into pillowcases and garbage bags that he later tossed into trash bins along North Avenue, according to court documents. Their slayings were two of the seven that Runge was accused of committing in seven years.
The sisters came to America in January 1995 to escape the ethnic cleansing in Sarajevo. Their father, Mensur, an engineer, cashed his nest egg to send them here, said Michael Wolfe, chief of the DuPage County state's attorney's office's criminal division.
Like many other refugees, they made their escape through a half-mile tunnel leading from the besieged city to a neutral zone established by the United Nations.
"The two got smuggled out in hopes of a better life, and then they encounter this vicious killer," Wolfe said.
After living with their uncle for a time, the sisters found work at the Duraco factory in Streamwood and got their own apartment. They had been laid off and were in the unemployment line when they heard about a housekeeping job. The day before they disappeared, a former co-worker had warned them to be careful meeting with Runge.
The sisters' parents had spoken to their only children on June 6, 1995, a month before they disappeared. Police eventually entered the women's apartment and found their belongings undisturbed.
Runge, convicted last year for the 1997 rape and murder of the mother and daughter, described to investigators how he killed the sisters. When Dzeneta Pasanbegovic tried to run out of his house, he said, he grabbed her by the back of her head and slammed her head on a concrete slab near the front door.
He then carried her inside, dropping her on the basement steps, where she struck her head again, according to court documents. Runge said he placed her in a filled bathtub and left the room, finding she had drowned when he returned.
Amela Pasanbegovic was handcuffed to a weight bench, raped, then strangled, according to his statement.
"He made their last moments hell," Wolfe said.
The team of DuPage and Cook County prosecutors who helped get Runge's conviction and death penalty sentence will seek a trial in Cook County in the 1995 slaying of a friend of Runge's ex-wife. Prosecutors plan to also seek the death penalty in that case.

23 comments:

  1. where is the wife Charlene who watched this terrible crime happen?
    Why has she not been held accountable

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is exactly what I want to know. She brought the two girls to the house, she watched as he drug one sister back in house and hit her head on cement step, she knew he was going to rape and kill the innocent sisters, and he raped and killed 10 year old and mother after all of this. Charlene could have called police and prevented this and save innocent victims. Why should she be spared and allowed to live with all of us innocent victims. She is as bad and guilty as he is. Please explain why they gave her immunity just because she testified against him. I am appalled at our justice system.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a destiny. Its too terrible. And their poor parents:(

    ReplyDelete
  4. You mean to tell me this woman was not held accountable fot her part in this? She went and picked them(the Bosnian sisters) up and took them to her home already knowing already knowing their fate was sealed as soon as they got in her car. She's just as guilty!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is exactly what I had said when I heard of this story. His wife should be in jail too if it wasn't for her them girl may of had a chance. She is guilty in my eyes just like him for her to walk free no time is crazy...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The cops were desperate to find her monster husband,the actual killer, but I AGREE that she was also a monster and SHOULD have received serious prison time. The cops had to bargain to get her cooperation, but it should have been for something less than full immunity if it was at all possible.




      Delete
    2. Omg. I would love to beat that sob to death. Torture him as he did to those poor girls. Feel so bad
      IM SO SORRY FOR THE PARENTS. VOLEM TE

      Delete
  6. Where is his wife now??? I live in this area ....i grew up around here my friends lived in hhanover park. I want to know where she is because she is just as dangerous as him!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Charlene Culnan, who married Runge in January 1995, confessed to playing a role in the killings, but she was granted immunity from prosecution if she promised to cooperate.

    At the very least she should have faced 2nd degree murder charges...

    ReplyDelete
  8. i wish i could cut him into pieces everyday he gets his life back i cut him into pieces again and again and again and again forever and forever..

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yep, it is utterly ridiculous that Charlene Runge and Karla Homolka are both free women...

    ReplyDelete
  11. There is no real freedom for this woman. What she did will be pulsing through her veins every second. She will WISH she had served time for it... indeed if she hasn't committed suicide already...

    ReplyDelete
  12. The wife is on Facebook and it looks like she is working at a goodwill store in Phoenix,AZ.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really. Interesting she deserves torture in worst way

      Delete
  13. The wife is on Facebook and it looks like she is working at a goodwill store in Phoenix,AZ.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What's the name on Facebook?

    ReplyDelete
  15. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  16. It's mind blowing that Runge's horrific wife is free and walking amongst us.God knows what such an evil creep is capable of. Her, Karla Homolka and Leonard Lake's wife are all free after being given immunity from prosecution! It's beyond belief. If that's not female privilege, then what is?

    ReplyDelete
  17. I’m pretty sure this guy posted want ads in the suburban life in early 1997 before his arrest. I wonder if anyone else answered his ads. It seems as though the investigation stopped with the crimes he confessed to. I wondered all of these years if there were other victims or almost victims who never reported anything.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Based on relatives listed, she's in FL. https://www.usphonebook.com/charlene-culnan/U3EDM3UTMxYzNwcTOyUTNxEDO20yR

    ReplyDelete
  19. Charlene was pregnant according to one article I read. Did they let her go because of that??? I believe she has a son which is the son of Paul Runge?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She should have gone to jail. If there was a baby it would be better off without her as the mother.

      Delete