Euclid man arraigned on charges from 2008 killing of Cleveland school teacher

CLEVELAND - Richard Penque, accused of the murder of a Cleveland school teacher in 2008, was arraigned in Cuyahoga County Court this morning.  The Euclid man was indicted Friday on charges including aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated arson and kidnapping. 

Penque is being held on a $1 million bond and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing by Judge David T. Matia on October 14th at 9 a.m.

Penque is accused of killing Marilyn Habian inside her Ball Avenue home in Euclid on April 7, 2008.  Habian taught at Cleveland’s Alexander Graham Bell School.

The prosecutor’s office says Penque was at Habian’s home committing burglary when she came back into the house and surprised him. He allegedly shot her in the chest and she died from those injuries. The prosecutor's office said that after locking her in a utility room, he gathered up papers and placed them on the stove and lit them in an attempt to set the house on fire.

Police say Penque was always their best suspect but they didn’t have enough evidence to indict him. That changed when they received a new lead just a few months ago.

Penque was already in prison on an aggravated assault conviction out of Geauga County for beating someone with a baseball bat. He was scheduled to be released last Saturday.