MUSIC FIGHT LED TO KILLING OF MOM FOUND IN LAGOON, PROSECUTORS AYS
Remains of Elgin woman found in Lincoln Pk. lagoon
Adispute between an Elgin man and his mother over loud Jimi Hendrix music led to the woman’s gruesome murder and dismemberment, authorities said Tuesday.
Brian M. Peck, 55, told police that in the confrontation, he knocked down his 76- yearold mother, Gail S. Peck, stomped on her head and used a handsaw to cut up her body in the house they shared, authorities said. Her remains were found Saturday in suitcases in a lagoon in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, police said.
He’s charged with two counts of first- degree murder and one count of concealing a homicide. He was ordered held without bail. Cook County Judge Steven J. Goebel said Peck posed an “extreme real and present threat.”
Prosecutors revealed gruesome details of the murder, which authorities believe occurred early Oct. 25, hours after Gail Peck and Brian, her only child, had dinner at a Schaumburg restaurant. Thatwas the last time she had contact with anyone other than her son, prosecutors said.
Friday afternoon, Peck called 911 to report his mother missing. Police said he told them his mother left home to walk her dog and the dog returned but she did not.
A day later, fishermen found a duffel bag containing body parts and a handsaw in a rowing lagoon on the 2200 block of North Stockton Drive, authorities said. After Chicago Police were called, members of the marine unit found a suitcase containing a female torso, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Maria McCarthy said.
The body showed evidence of a scar consistent with spinal fusion surgery, McCarthy said. Gail Peck had undergone such a procedure, McCarthy said.
The police investigation revealed Brian Peck used his mother’s debit card to withdraw $ 500 from her checking account about 4: 49 a. m. Wednesday in a transaction captured on video surveillance, McCarthy said. A few hours later, he called Gail Peck’s cleaning lady and told her not to come to the house that day, McCarthy said.
About 7 a. m. Friday, in response to a call from Gail Peck’s niece, Brian Peck stated his mother was “sick as a dog” and unable to come to the phone, McCarthy said. That day, he transferred $ 4,000 from his mother’s savings account to her checking account, McCarthy said.
Between Wednesday and Friday, prosecutors say, Brian Peck purchased cleaning supplies, paver bricks, three tarps and nylon cord, a fivepiece luggage set and steam vacuum cleaner. Police recovered a receipt for the luggage set, McCarthy said.
Confronted with video evidence of his purchases, Brian Peck “changed his story,” McCarthy said.
Peck told police his mother confronted him about 3: 30 a. m. Wednesday about playing Jimi Hendrix music too loud, McCarthy said. He claimed his mother told him to leave as she held “a military- style knife,” McCarthy said.
He said he “knocked her legs out from under her and stomped on her head,” McCarthy said. He said he cut up her body with the handsaw and put the parts in garbage bags, she said.
Wednesday, Peck drove to Montrose Harbor and threw the bag containing his mother’s head and arms into Lake Michigan, McCarthy said. He told police he purchased the luggage the next day, put her torso and legs into those bags and threw them into the water near Diversey Harbor, McCarthy said.
Cook County Assistant Public Defender Caroline Glennon said Brian Peck had been taking care of his mother for seven years, but McCarthy disputed that, saying he had been “living with her and living off her.”
Brian Peck had six felony convictions, McCarthy said. Gail Peck filed an order of protection against him in March 2016 in DuPage County, court records show.