DuPage murder suspect's cop background inadmissible

A DuPage County murder suspect's background as a part-time police officer isn't relevant to his case and will not be admitted as evidence, a judge ruled Wednesday. Prosecutors had sought to introduce evidence that 47-year-old John Gilbert was trained in firearms and crime scene investigations before he is alleged to have fatally shot Jason Dragos, 38, two years ago near Burr Ridge.

Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Ruggiero argued in court Wednesday the training demonstrates Gilbert had “the means and the access to the tools to commit this murder.”

But DuPage Judge George Bakalis said it would be difficult to prove the extent of Gilbert's knowledge based on courses he took as a part-time officer, and how his experiences may have factored into the killing.

“It doesn't take any special training to fire a gun,” Bakalis said. “Almost anybody has access to a gun.”

Dragos' body was discovered Feb. 9, 2009, in a closet at his place of employment, SAIA Trucking Co. near Burr Ridge, after his wife reported the Highland, Ind., man missing.

Gilbert, who was Dragos' sales supervisor at SAIA, is accused of murdering Dragos after the two met a day earlier to prepare for a presentation in Chicago.

Prosecutors say the presentation was canceled after Gilbert checked himself into a hospital, claiming he nearly had a heart attack upon receiving an e-mail in which Dragos purportedly said company executives had forced him to spy on Gilbert and report back on his whereabouts and actions.

Investigators later discovered that the e-mail, which described a “witch hunt” targeting Gilbert and his family, was generated on a computer recovered from Gilbert's home in Chicago, according to court records.

Ruggiero said the “bizarre” circumstances lead prosecutors to believe Gilbert wanted the trucking company's management to take the blame for Dragos' death.

“I'm not standing here saying it makes a lot of sense,” Ruggiero said. “He tried to make it look like the company did it.”

Gilbert attorney Jed Stone called the allegations “as bizarre a prosecution theory as I've encountered.”

He said his client was an “auxiliary officer” for three departments between 1999 and 2007, but worked on projects such as a youth sports program and did not carry a weapon.

“The fact that he sat in a classroom is not evidence of special training,” Stone said. “He didn't go to the police academy; he took a dumbed-down in-class lecture on basic, basic, basic police training.”

Gilbert, who has pleaded not guilty, remains in the county jail without bond.