A September murder trial for a man charged with shooting his ex-wife in Gurnee last year has been postponed to at least January to allow time for a defense motion to suppress evidence in the case.
A hearing on a motion to suppress evidence in the murder case against David Brocksom, 44, was scheduled to begin Thursday, but defense attorney Gabe Conroe requested a delay, citing scheduling problems.
Judge Mark Levitt rescheduled the hearing for Nov. 2, and all parties in the case agreed that a new trial date would be discussed at that time. Conroe said January would likely be the earliest a trial could take place.
The motion asks that evidence, specifically a notebook seized by investigators, be stricken from use by prosecutors at the trial. Brocksom allegedly admitted the notebook belonged to him.
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Brocksom had been scheduled for trial Sept. 29. Assistant State’s Attorney Jason Humke agreed that a January trial was now likely, and said the motion hearing could take more than one date to complete.
Indicted on charges of first-degree murder last fall by a Lake County Grand Jury, Brocksom was arrested following the Sept. 27, 2015, shooting and has been held since then in Lake County Jail with bail set at $3 million.
According to police and prosecutors, Brocksom’s former wife, Beata Brocksom, 43, was shot to death following a confrontation with the defendant at her Gurnee home at about 4 a.m. that Sept. 27.
Prosecutors said Brocksom claimed his wife answered the door at her Gurnee home and the couple argued, and as the argument escalated, his wife struck him with an object and knocked him unconscious. Authorities said Brocksom has claimed that when he regained consciousness, his ex-wife was standing over him with a gun, and the two began to struggle over the weapon.
Brocksom allegedly told police the gun went off during the struggle, striking Beata Brocksom in the chin. Authorities said Brocksom recounted that she then fled through a window, he followed and the fight continued in the yard, where he said held his former wife by the wrists, heard her make a gurgling sound and realized she had stopped breathing before he dragged her behind a bush.
Officials said Brocksom then texted his girlfriend, telling her to pick up his children at their hotel in the Wisconsin Dells, and that he fled the home with the gun and two cellphones. Authorities report he was stopped and arrested later as he was driving toward the parking lot of Gurnee Police Department, where he told police he planned to surrender.
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