A McHenry County man was sentenced to 45 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of his father.
In the negotiated plea, Michael Bakker, 49, of McCullom Lake did not argue the state’s evidence that he shot and killed Daniel Bakker on or about Sept. 4, 2015. A trial for Bakker had been scheduled to start this week.
Bakker, who has been held in McHenry County jail on $5 million bail since his arrest, must serve 100 percent of his sentence. Two charges of concealment of a homicide were dismissed in exchange for his plea.
Authorities said Bakker shot his 69-year-old father in the back of his right ear as he sat on the couch in his home in unincorporated McHenry County near the city of McHenry. Bakker was arrested in a motel in Lake Geneva, Wis., about two weeks later. He admitted to police that he shot his father, Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Combs said.
In the days that followed the shooting, Bakker answered his father’s phone and told various callers that his father was unable to talk because he was undergoing medical treatments. He also sent out text messages pretending to be his father, according to authorities and documents filed in the courthouse.
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At Monday’s hearing, Michael Bakker’s sister, Deborah Petska, who found her deceased father and called police, read a statement. She said her father was a “hard-working” and “dedicated” family man who often helped Michael and his wife. She said he let Michael and his wife live with him, and when Michael didn’t have money for gas, her father gave him his penny jar.
She said he may not have always gotten along with their father but “that’s part of life … doesn’t give you the right to kill him.” She continued that he committed “the most selfish act of all” and that he shows no remorse.
“You killed the one person who loved you the most,” she said to her brother as they both stood before Judge James Cowlin. “… (He) would have done anything for you.”
But, contrary to the sister’s statements, Assistant Public Defender Kim Messer said by telephone after the hearing that her client is remorseful and often weeps over what has happened. She said he maintains the shooting was accidental and that he chose to enter a guilty plea to save his family the pain of going through a trial.
Messer said Bakker attempted to commit suicide in 2014 by slitting his arm, an act that required 100 stitches. During the weeks before and after shooting his father, Messer said, he again was having suicidal thoughts. She said the two men loved each other and often had differences like in any family, but could not say what they were arguing about during the time of Daniel Bakker’s death. He hopes to one day be able to talk to his sister.
In 1996, Bakker was sentenced to six years in prison for possession of a stolen license plate, records show. But the following year he escaped from a prison farm at Stateville Correctional Center. He was accused of stealing a car in Volo and leading police on a high-speed chase. He was caught in a cornfield and, after he raised a replica handgun at officers, a state SWAT team member shot him in the back, police said. After he was caught, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter.