Accused murderer overdosed on medication at jail

The man accused of raping and murdering 24-year-old Lauren Kiefer on Christmas Day 2006 killed himself in jail last month by overdosing on prescription medication, prosecutors said this week.

Robert Rejda, 26, of Oakbrook Terrace was found dead Dec. 14 in his cell at DuPage County Jail, three days after he expressed in court his desire to plead guilty to Kiefer's murder and receive the death penalty. DuPage Circuit Court Judge Michael Burke did not immediately accept the plea and ordered that Rejda undergo testing to determine if he was mentally fit.

Rejda apparently hoarded medication that was prescribed by medical staff at the jail, said Paul Darrah, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office. Toxicology tests show he died from overdosing on the medicine, the coroner's office said.

Two suicide notes were left behind in the cell, but Darrah said he could not disclose their content.

DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett appeared in court Monday for the final hearing on the case.

Rejda allegedly sexually assaulted Kiefer on Dec. 25, 2006, and beat her to death with a baseball bat at her home in unincorporated DuPage County near Oakbrook Terrace, prosecutors said. Rejda reportedly called her residence at about 2:30 p.m. while she and her mother were at her sister's home in Lombard. He then broke into the home and waited for her to arrive, attacking her shortly before 6:30 p.m., prosecutors said.

Kiefer and Rejda both attended Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, and he lived only a few blocks from the home where Kiefer lived with her mother.

Birkett was seeking the death penalty in the case.

Rejda also was charged with the 2005 rape of a 27-year-old Aurora woman. He followed the woman home from a Downers Grove bar before sexually assaulting and robbing her, prosecutors said. While the woman could not identify her attacker, Rejda was linked to the crime through DNA and fingerprint evidence, authorities said.

Rejda was one of two county jail prisoners to commit suicide last year.

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