David Brocksom gets 90 years for killing ex-wife in Gurnee
Kenosha resident David Brocksom, who was found guilty last year of killing his ex-wife under the cover of darkness at her Gurnee house, was sentenced to 90 years in prison by a Lake County judge Monday.
Judge George D. Strickland said Brocksom, 48, set out to kill his ex-wife so he wouldn't have to pay child support and legal fees related to their ongoing custody fight. The Brocksoms were scheduled for a hearing in family court two months after the murder, Strickland said.
"The children had a right to that hearing and their mother, Beata Brocksom, had a right to that hearing and her life," Strickland said. "It was a grotesque perversion of those rights when David Brocksom settled it with the end of a gun."
Brocksom is required to serve the entire sentence.
Before the sentence was handed down, Brocksom tearfully read a letter where he acknowledged he was responsible for his ex-wife's death but said he did it because she was sexually abusing their children and the courts weren't doing enough to protect them.
Brocksom said his wife wouldn't have died if not for the corruption and negligence of the Lake County courts and concluded his letter by telling Strickland to "do your worst."
Strickland, however, refuted Brocksom's assertion that he acted only because the courts failed to protect his children and said there was no proof that Beata Brocksom sexually abused the couple's children.
Brocksom initially told police in 2015 he was with his two children at a Wisconsin Dells hotel when the couple's 9-year-old daughter accused his ex-wife of molesting her. David Brocksom became irate and, in the middle of the night, drove to his ex-wife's house, he told police.
He told police he knocked on the door, the couple argued and he was hit in the face with a gun. He said they fought over the weapon and it discharged twice, with one bullet hitting Beata Brocksom in the throat.
Strickland, however, said the evidence overwhelmingly shows that Brocksom planned to murder his wife and make it look like a suicide.
Strickland said Brocksom drove to Gurnee in the dead of night dressed in black clothes to sneak into Beata Brocksom's room and shoot her while she slept. She woke up before he could fire the fatal shot and the two struggled, so he had to change his story. Strickland described how Brocksom went to the bathroom and bashed himself with the gun to make it look like they'd been fighting and how he left blood all around the house.
Strickland said David Brocksom doesn't have a conscience and has never taken responsibility for what he did.
"The next time David Brocksom tells the truth about this case will be the first time," Strickland said.
Brocksom will receive credit for the 1,512 days he has already served in Lake County jail. His attorney, Jed Stone, said he will appeal the case.
"This has been a long, difficult process for everyone involved," said Lake County State's Attorney Michael Nerheim. "Hopefully, this prison sentence helps bring some closure to the family of Beata Brocksom."