News

Chicago trader gets 55 years in killing of childhood friend

Posted November 02, 2019 7:00 am

The Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) - A Chicago Board of Trade trader has been sentenced to 55 years in prison for the killing of a friend he'd known since childhood.

A Cook County judge sentenced 38-year-old Michael Pelko on Friday for 37-year-old Izat Morrar's July 2017 slaying.

Morrar's body was found dumped in an alley in the Washington Park neighborhood with two gunshot wounds to his head.

A jury convicted Pelko, of suburban Willow Springs, of murder in August. Pelko's lawyer tells the Chicago Sun-Times his client will appeal his conviction.

Text messages showed Pelko and Morrar had argued over a debt before the slaying.

Prosecutors said Pelko created an alibi for the day of Morrar's killing that included telling co-workers he was leaving work early to attend a party for his son's baseball team.

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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, http://chicago.suntimes.com/

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