A 75-year-old Chicago man called 911 the night of March 7, identified himself, and told the operator he had just murdered his girlfriend of 25 years and her sister. When asked why, he allegedly replied, “They got on my m*********ing nerves.”
William Wallace, a concealed carry license holder, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his girlfriend of 25 years, Phyllis Goolsby, 68, and her sister, Tuanna Thomas, 71. The women were killed in the home they all shared in the 10400 block of South Peoria Street.
According to prosecutors, the evening began at a bar, where Wallace had gone with Goolsby and her son. Goolsby became upset when Wallace accepted someone’s offer of a second drink. He ultimately declined it, and the couple left around 9:45 p.m. and returned home.
About an hour later, Wallace called 911. He identified himself, told the operator he had just shot “two m***********s,” provided his address, and explained that the victims were sisters, according to a detention filing
Chicago police arrived minutes later. Wallace answered the door and told officers he had killed the two women, that one was upstairs, and that the firearm was with her. Officers secured Wallace and entered the home, finding Goolsby on the living room couch, shot twice, with a 9mm handgun on the nearby coffee table. Her sister was in a first-floor bedroom, shot three times in the back. There were no signs of a struggle anywhere in the home, according to prosecutors.
After police swabbed Wallace’s hands for gunshot residue, an officer thanked him for his patience.
“I don’t have no damn patience,” Wallace allegedly replied. “I’m 75 f****** years old and I have no patience. That’s what happened tonight. I have no patience. My patience is gone.”
While in custody, Wallace was allowed to make two phone calls. Prosecutors said he left voicemails for two relatives, admitting in each to killing the victims and saying he was in jail facing murder charges.
Wallace’s history is limited to a 1974 arrest for unlawful use of a weapon, a case that was dropped. Judge Ankur Srivastava ordered him detained pending trial.
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