Man Accused In Boss' Burr Ridge Murder Was About To Be Fired: Police

BURR RIDGE, IL – The man who killed his boss and wounded a receptionist in a Burr Ridge office in March was about to be fired after less than a week on the job, police said.

Jeremy Spicer, 31, of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, worked for a few trucking firms in the same area of Burr Ridge. He was often fired.

Spicer, a trucker, took his own life after the shootings.

Through a public records request, Patch obtained the 42-page police report on the shootings.

The report said Spicer often expressed hatred toward Serbians. Police some of Burr Ridge's trucking firms are Serbian-owned.

Police responded to the shootings the afternoon of March 22.

A few days earlier, Spicer started work for Winners Freight, 16W475 S. Frontage Road.

His first load went fine. He took a second load, but then decided he did not want it. He became verbally abusive with the company's dispatchers, the report said.

On March 22, Winners Freight co-owner Nikola Misovic, 30, met Spicer in the truck yard in Lemont. Then he drove Spicer back to the Burr Ridge office in a semi-truck.

Once there, Misovic was planning to fire Spicer, the report said.

Spicer was expecting to be paid, but was told he owed the company money because of fuel, police said.

Spicer became enraged.

"Are you f------ kidding me? I've been driving all week, and I owe you money," he said, according to the report.

Misovic offered to give Spicer a ride to his hotel and that he needed to leave, the report continues.

Misovic's wife, who was in the office with her 6-month-old baby, told police she heard three gunshots. She saw Spicer in the doorway firing the last one. His weapon was a .40-caliber handgun, police said.

Spicer then went to Force Transportation in the same building. The employees recognized him because the company had fired him a month earlier, police said.

He asked for the owner, but was told the owner was not there. He then shot the receptionist, according to the police report. Her family has identified her as Ana Brankovikj Jovanovikj, 31. She survived and is said to be recovering.

Force Transportation hired Spicer last year for a month, then fired him for violating U.S. Department of Transportation rules on driving, according to the report.

Two months ago, Spicer pleaded for his job back. He was hired, but was fired a week later for again breaking federal rules, the report said.

According to the report, Spicer went to another nearby business and asked to speak with the owner. The employees said they didn't initially recognize Spicer, a former employee, because he had gained weight, police said.

Spicer walked back to the owner's office, but the owner was not there. Spicer appeared to be holding a handgun, employees said.

At that point, Spicer left the area, ending up in the 7900 block of Madison Street.

"Spicer walked approximately a mile from the scene and holed up in a bathroom in another business," Deputy Police Chief Marc Loftus said in a news conference in March. "He asked the company there if he could come in and use the restroom, and they let him."

After he was in the restroom for about 20 minutes, employees at the business became suspicious, Loftus said.

"They basically told Spicer to leave and that they were closing for the day," the deputy chief said. "When Spicer left, they called police. Officers quickly responded. When the first officer arrived, Spicer turned his gun on himself and shot himself."

Spicer was staying at La Quinta Inn in Willowbrook while working for Winners Freight, according to a village news release.