Jewelry designer stabbed to death with screwdriver 'by parolee who broke into her apartment hoping to steal a DVD player'

PUBLISHED: 00:12 EST, 19 March 2013 | UPDATED: 05:35 EST, 19 March 2013

A Chicago jewelry designer was brutally stabbed to death by a screwdriver-wielding parolee who broke into her apartment hoping to steal her DVD player, police have revealed.

The horrific murder of Lisa Koziol-Ellis, 33, on March 2 shocked the suburb of Elgin and led friends and family to offer a $15,000 reward for the arrest of her killer.

Police say the culprit lived just a few doors away: Paul Johnson, a 34-year-old ex-con who was out on parole after serving 18 months of a four year sentence for robbery.

Murdered: Lisa Koziol-Ellis was stabbed to death with a screwdriver when she tried to stop a burglar who broke into her home

Tragic: Koziol-Ellis was a jewelry designer who had just moved into the neighborhood with her husband

Busted: Paul Johnson, 34, was out on parole and reportedly thought his new neighbors would make a good target for him to rob

He allegedly broke into her house and and tried to steal he DVD player. Koziol-Ellis and her husband had just moved into the neighborhood and Johnson allegedly believed they would be ripe targets, the Chicago Tribune reports.

He attacked Koziol-Ellis with a screwdriver and stabbed her multiple times when she tried to stop him.

He fled, but then returned to try to clean up the scene.

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Koziol-Ellis' husband Dash returned home from work at 2.30am that night to find his wife brutally murdered.

Police had few leads and so the family pulled together a reward and publicly pleaded for anyone with information to come forward.

Koziol-Ellis was allegedly killed when she tried to stand up to the man who broke into her house

This is a piece of Ms Koziol-Ellis' jewelry

Promising: Koziol-Ellis designed under the name Foxy Goat Art, Jewelry & Sass and built a devoted community of followers

Last week, an informant came forward and gave police a tip that led them to Johnson.

He was arrested on murder charges on Friday and is being held on $5million bail.

Johnson spent two stints in Illinois prisons on burglary charges. He was also charge with a 2000 armed robbery in which he tied up a motel clerk and and stole $500.

His family appeared in the courtroom for his first appearance in front of a judge on Monday.