Man charged in dad's stabbing death in Westmont...There goes the neigborhood!

A $2 million bond was set today for a 32-year old man accused of fatally stabbing his father over the weekend in the hallway of a Westmont extended-stay hotel.

William V. Clifford is charged with the first-degree murder of William Clifford, 63, of Aurora, who had gone to the Homestead Studio Suites, 855 Pasquinelli Drive, on Saturday to visit his son. The younger man has been arrested numerous times in connection with crimes over the past decade in several states, prosecutors said today in DuPage County holiday bond court.

Assistant State's Attorney Bethany Jackson told Judge Robert Kleeman that another person heard "screaming in the hallway" of the hotel and looked out to see both men, "involved in a confrontation, with the defendant on top of the victim stabbing him repeatedly"

The elder Clifford was taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where he was pronounced dead of multiple stab wounds, Jackson said.

The defendant reportedly fled the scene, but returned "covered in his father's blood," presumably to retrieve a packed bag, and was immediately apprehended by Westmont police, Jackson said. She added that the eyewitness to the stabbing later picked the defendant out of a lineup.

"The evidence is strong, and conviction is likely," Jackson said.

The defendant had been staying at the Westmont hotel at his father's expense for about a month after having been "kicked out of a Chicago YMCA for having alcohol in his room," she said.

Jackson said that police indicated that the defendant has an arrest record over the past decade in Texas, California and South Dakota for fighting involving other family members, possession of a stolen car and drunk driving. He had no recent criminal history in DuPage County.

Jackson declined to comment on what specifically precipitated the fatal argument.

If convicted, William V. Clifford faces 20 to 60 years in prison. Although other members of the defendant's immediate family live out of state, Kleeman ordered that if he is able to post the 10 percent bond, he is to wear a GPS device.