Elk Grove man gets 64 years for killing mother
Jonathan Wood suffers from schizophrenia. He suffered from it in 2008 when he beat, bound and gagged his 70-year-old mother Marilyn Wood with electrical cords and speaker wire and left her in a storage room in the basement of her Elk Grove Village home, buried beneath a rolled carpet, suitcases and other items.
But he knew what he was doing was wrong. And for that, Cook County Judge Bridget Hughes sentenced the 43-year-old to a total of 64 years in prison Monday — 61 years for the murder and three years for concealing a homicide — following a hearing during which prosecutors argued for an extended term of up to life in prison. Hughes found Wood guilty of the charges in December following a three-day bench trial. She awarded him credit for the 1,270 days he has spent in custody, the only credit he will receive.
“You are not to receive any good conduct credit,” she said. “You are to serve every day of your sentence.”
Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Steve Rosenblum called Marilyn Wood’s murder “unspeakable,” the ultimate act of disrespect for a mother, and the ultimate act of disrespect for the court, insofar as Marilyn Wood had an order of protection, one of several she obtained over the years, against Wood at the time of her death.
“It’s an affront to the entire judicial system,” said Rosenblum, insisting Wood killed her because he didn’t want to go to jail for violating the order of protection.
Four Elk Grove Village police officers testified about responding to calls from Marilyn Wood about her son. Once he was behaving irrationally and had to be transported to a hospital. Another time he was found removing computer equipment and her car from her home in violation of an order of protection granted hours earlier. A third time she called police because she said Jonathan refused to let her leave her home to obtain an order of protection. Patricia Kehl, an elder abuse caseworker from the Kenneth Young Center testified that Marilyn told her she barricaded herself in her bedroom to get away from her son, who she claimed once stood over her with knife saying he wanted to “circumcise her heart.”
Defense attorney Jim Mullenix argued for a 20 to 60 year sentence, typical for first-degree murder, for Wood who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia by seven different experts since 1997. Wood has also been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, delusional disorder and psychosis.
“What type of person takes the life of the very person who gave him life?” Mullenix said. “Who kills his own mother? The answer is: a mentally ill person.”
“Schizophrenia is not a curable disease,” testified neuropsychologist Dr. Robert Hanlon, of Northwestern University Medical School, describing it as a chronic, disabling mental disorder characterized by illogical and disorganized behavior and thinking. Medication alleviates the symptoms, said Hanlon, but people with schizophrenia typically go off their medication so the symptoms return.
Hanlon found Wood fit to stand trial and found him sane at the time of the crime, meaning Wood understood the criminality of his actions.
“The psychotic symptoms did not cause the death of his mother,” Hanlon said.
Wood insisted — as he had during trial — that he never meant to kill his mother.
“I knew tying her up was wrong, but I didn’t know it could lead to her death,” he said. “I’ve never been a threat to anybody in my life.”
Marilyn Wood’s sister Rowena Le Blanc disagreed.
LeBlanc described in her victim impact statement the emptiness, despair and helplessness that came from losing her older sister — a devoted mother — who she described as faithful, generous and caring with a beautiful heart.
“How could this happen to such a good woman?” she said. “I wondered where God was in all this. I was trying to recall anybody who would do this to her. The first person who came to my mind was Jon.”
Wood refused to take his medication and became violent, LeBlanc said, meanwhile Marilyn lived in fear.
“I believe he has no conscience and is incapable of real feelings or compassion for anyone,” LeBlanc said. “I believe he is a threat to society.”
LeBlanc asked for a life sentence to protect others from Wood.
“I will forgive so as not to dwell on revenge,” she said. “I am normally a compassionate person, but it’s hard when you’re faced with this act of violence ... Jonathan Wood needs to be held accountable. A stand has to be taken.”