A Kenosha man accused of shooting his ex-wife in Gurnee late last month was indicted on first-degree murder charges Wednesday by a Lake County grand jury.
David Brocksom, 43, remained in Lake County Jail Wednesday afternoon in lieu of $3 million bail, an amount he unsuccessfully attempted to have lowered during a bond hearing earlier this month.
An arraignment date for Brocksom has been scheduled for Nov. 3 before Judge Mark Levitt.
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According to police and prosecutors, Brocksom’s ex-wife, 43-year-old Beata Brocksom, was shot to death following a confrontation at about 4 a.m. Sept. 27 at her Gurnee home.
Prosecutors said David Brocksom told investigators he drove to the Gurnee home and an argument quickly escalated after Beata Brocksom answered the door. Brocksom said his wife struck him with an object and knocked him unconscious, according to authorities.
When David Brocksom regained consciousness, according to his statements to police, Beata Brocksom was standing over him with a gun, and the two began to struggle over the weapon.
David Brocksom told police the gun went off during the struggle, wounding Beata Brocksom in the chin. According to authorities, Brocksom said she then fled through a window, he followed and the fight continued in the yard. While holding his former wife by the wrists, Brocksom told police, he heard her make a gurgling sound and realized she had stopped breathing before he dragged her behind a bush.
Authorities said Brocksom fled the home with the gun and two cellphones, while also telling his girlfriend to pick up his children at a hotel in the Wisconsin Dells. Brocksom was pulled over and arrested near the Gurnee Police Department, where he said he planned to surrender.
During an Oct. 2 bond hearing, Brocksom’s former defense attorney, Douglas Zeit, had requested that bond be lowered to between $100,000 and $150,000.
Zeit, referencing self-defense and other circumstances related in the case, has said Brocksom should not be charged with first-degree murder. He noted that both David Brocksom and a Gurnee neighbor of Beata Brocksom had filed orders of protection against Beata Brocksom in the past.
That request to reduce the charge was denied by Judge Christen Bishop.
Zeit confirmed recently that he is no longer representing Brocksom, who has been assigned representation by the Lake County Public Defender’s Office.
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