Bond reduction denied for woman accused of helping conceal killing

In a Rolling Meadows courtroom Wednesday, Cook County judge Thomas Fecarotta denied Jacqueline Gallagher's request for a reduction in the $100,000 bond he set for her in September.

Gallagher, 20 of the 2100 block of Prairie Trail in Round Lake Heights, has been charged with concealing a homicide in the 2006 murder of 20-year-old Fox Lake resident Jesse Beskow, whose remains were discovered on Chicago's South Side in late September.

Gallagher's boyfriend Preston Cooper, 24, of the 35200 block of Ravine Lane, Ingleside, has been charged with first-degree murder in the homicide, which took place at a Palatine condominium where he and Gallagher lived at the time.

In his request to reduce Gallagher's bond to $25,000, defense attorney Francis Baumgart argued that his client, who is more than four months pregnant, is neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community. He also stated that she has no substantial criminal background and claims to have been asleep at the time of the killing.

Assistant state's attorney Patrick Morley argued against any reduction citing her involvement after the murder. According to Morley, Cooper and Gallagher loaded Beskow into the trunk of Gallagher's car which she drove to 103rd Street and Stoney Island where the duo, assisted by Cooper's father, reportedly dumped the body.

Returning to the condo, Cooper and Gallagher cleaned up the scene, which included tearing up the carpet and repainting the walls, said Morley. Morley also pointed out Gallagher's 2007 convictions for driving on a suspended license and resisting a police officer as well as the grand jury transcript in which a witness testified that Gallagher suggested they burn Beskow's body.

In denying the defense motion, Fecarotta said he felt a $100,000 bond was "fair and reasonable" at the time and remains convinced today.

In a related matter, Cooper, who was not initially represented by counsel at his hearing Wednesday, requested a two-month continuance so that his mother could hire a new lawyer. Despite Cooper's insistence that he did not want a public defender, the judge appointed assistant public defender Helen Tsimouris to act as Cooper's attorney until he obtains other counsel. Cooper and Gallagher's next court date is Dec. 23.