Elk Grove man gets new judge for murder trial
Jonathon Wood will face a new judge when he next appears in a Rolling Meadows courtroom, after assistant state's attorney Steve Rosenblum successfully argued a substitution of judge motion before Judge John Scotillo Wednesday.
Elk Grove Police charged the 39-year-old Wood with first-degree murder in the October death of his 70-year-old mother Marilyn at her home in the 1500 block of White Trail in Elk Grove Village. Wood had lived with his mother until a month before her death, when she took out an order of protection against him.
Rosenblum contended Scotillo was biased against the prosecution but did not elaborate. Scotillo granted the motion and sent the case to Rolling Meadows' presiding judge Joseph Urso for reassignment. Urso indicated that he would try the case himself.
After the normally punctual Marilyn Wood failed to show up for work at Schaumburg's Healthcare Resources on Oct. 30, concerned colleagues called police requesting a well-being check. The police discovered nothing unusual at the home.
On Oct. 31, authorities say Jonathon Wood sent a fax to his mother's employer saying she'd be out of town a few days. Police returned to the home and discovered Marilyn Wood's body bound and gagged in the basement.
Detectives traced the fax number to an Arlington Heights insurance agency where an employee told them a man had come in off the street and asked to use the fax. The employee gave police a description of the man's car, which matched that of one belonging to Jonathon Wood, authorities said.
Later that day, police spotted Wood driving the car near the crime scene and attempted to stop him. Wood fled, leading police on a high-speed chase that ended in Glencoe with his arrest. Court records indicate Wood has convictions for resisting arrest, reckless driving, disorderly conduct and public indecency dating back to 2002.
Besides murder, the charges against Wood include home invasion, residential burglary, concealment of a homicide, aggravated fleeing and eluding and violation of an order of protection. For now, prosecutors are treating this as a capital case. Wood remains in Cook County jail on a $3 million bond. He next appears in court on March 5.