Canadian pleads not guilty to Oak Brook murder
A Canadian man accused of gunning down his ex-girlfriend last month after tracking her to an Oak Brook parking lot pleaded not guilty Monday to five counts of first-degree murder.
Dmitry Smirnov, 20, of Surrey, British Columbia, was arraigned in front of DuPage County Judge Blanche Hill Fawell. It was his first court appearance since a grand jury indicted him last week in the slaying of 36-year-old Jitka Vesel of Westmont.
About a dozen of the victim’s family and friends watched as Smirnov’s public defender entered a formal not guilty plea on his behalf. The defendant, shackled and dressed in an orange jail outfit and wearing glasses, did not speak other than to acknowledge the charges.
Prosecutors said Smirnov contacted police and gave a video-recorded confession, just hours after shooting Vesel several times in the head and body on April 13. The killing happened about 9 p.m. as Vesel left a volunteer function at the Czechoslovak Society of American Fraternal Life, 122 W. 22nd St.
Smirnov faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of murdering Vesel in an especially “brutal or heinous” manner, or with a preconceived plan. He also could face additional time if found to have personally fired the gun that killed Vesel, Assistant State’s Attorney David Bayer said.
Authorities said Smirnov met Vesel through an online dating service in 2008 and went on to have a relationship with her in Illinois. Vesel later reunited with an old boyfriend, and Smirnov moved back to Canada, though he continued to call her and send emails, according to the allegations.
About three weeks before Vesel’s slaying, authorities said, Smirnov traveled from Canada to Seattle and bought a .40-caliber handgun and ammunition, then returned to the Chicago area and looked up Vesel’s most recent address. Prosecutors said a laptop found in his vehicle showed he also had researched the death penalty, which was abolished in Illinois a month earlier.
Smirnov is accused of locating Vesel by attaching a tracking device to the bottom of her vehicle. At one point during the ambush, authorities said, he reloaded his gun and continued firing.
Friends and relatives of Vesel declined to comment as they left court Monday. Smirnov, who remained in the county jail without bond, is due back in court June 20.