Elgin man pleads not guilty to charges he killed mom in argument over loud music
An Elgin man accused of murdering and dismembering his 76-year-old mother and dumping her remains in a Lincoln Park lagoon in Chicago pleaded not guilty on Friday.
Brian Peck, 55, is charged with first-degree murder of his mother, Gail Peck, and concealing the homicide.
He is being held without bail.
Wearing a tan prison uniform, Peck spoke only to answer the judge's questions during the brief hearing.
Earlier, Peck told authorities an argument with his mother over the volume of his Jimi Hendrix music led him to knock her down and stomp on her, prosecutors said. According to them, Peck killed his mother, cut up her body in the home they shared and placed her remains in suitcases weighted down by paver bricks. Authorities say he tossed the suitcases into the lagoon. They say he placed other body parts into garbage bags which he tossed into Lake Michigan.
A human arm washed up onto Montrose Beach in Chicago last month, however authorities have not said whether the limb is Gail Peck's.
A Cook County medical examiner reported the remains showed rib fractures that resulted from blunt force trauma but indicated those fractures were not the cause of death. Authorities have not yet determined what did kill Gail Peck.
Brian Peck reported his mother missing Oct. 27. He told police she left their house on the 700 block of Littleton Trail in Elgin to walk the dog who returned home without her, prosecutors said.
Body camera video from the police officer responding to the missing person report was among evidence prosecutors turned over to the defense in Friday's hearing.
During Brian Peck's Oct. 31 bond hearing, prosecutors described in gruesome detail the murder, which they say occurred early on Oct. 25. He claimed Gail Peck produced a military-style knife and told him to leave the house. Peck told police he responded by knocking her legs out from under her and stomping on her, prosecutors said. He told police he drove to Chicago later that day and again the following day to throw the suitcases and bags containing his mother's remains into the lake and lagoon.
Prosecutors say the investigation revealed that on the day of the murder, Peck withdrew $500 from Gail Peck's checking account and bought carpet cleaner, paver bricks, tarps and nylon cord. Over the next two days, prosecutors say, Peck bought a 5-piece luggage set and a steam vacuum cleaner. They said Peck canceled an appointment with his mother's cleaning woman and told a relative who phoned his mother that she was "sick as a dog" and unable to talk.
Peck next appears in court on Jan. 10.