A suburban man has been sentenced to 75 years in prison for killing his mother and dumping part of her dismembered body into the Lincoln Park lagoon in 2017, according to court records. He told police he did it because she complained when he played his music too loud.
Jurors found Brian Peck, 60, guilty of murder, dismembering a human body, and concealing a homicidal death in February. Judge Joseph Cotaldo sentenced him this month.
Peck filed a missing person report in Elgin, saying that his mother went for a walk with her dog in October 2017. The dog returned home, but she didn’t, he claimed.
Authorities in the suburb launched an extensive search for Gail Peck, using dogs, all-terrain vehicles, drones, a helicopter, and community volunteers. Chicago police divers searched a couple of spots along the North Side lakefront in a fruitless effort to find her.
The search ended a couple of days later when a fisherman’s hook snagged a duffel bag containing a saw, brick pavers, and Gail Peck’s torso and legs in the Lincoln Park rowing channel near 2300 North Cannon Drive.
Elgin police said Peck killed his mother after she complained that he was playing his music too loudly in the home that they shared. He allegedly beat his mother to death and dismembered her body in a bathtub.
Brian Peck had a history of violence against his mother, according to prosecutors. He received a 100-day sentence after pleading guilty to threatening her and putting her in a chokehold in March 2016, court records show.
Judge Cotaldo sentenced Peck to 50 years for murder, 20 years for dismembering a human body, and three years for concealing a homicidal death, according to court files. Cotaldo ordered the sentences to be served consecutively and gave Peck credit for the 1,648 days he spent in jail before sentencing.
Editor’s note: Illinois Department of Corrections records show Peck received a three-year sentence for concealing a homicidal death. The court clerk’s record says five years.
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