Remains Identified As Elgin Mom Of Son Charged With Her Murder

CHICAGO, IL — The body parts found in a pair of duffel bags by a fisherman in a Lincoln Park lagoon were identified Thursday as an Elgin woman whose son has been arrested and charged in her death. The office of the Cook County medical examiner confirmed the human remains found Saturday morning in Chicago, which included parts of two legs and a torso, belonged to 76-year-old Gail Peck.

Her son, Brian Peck, 55, is being held without bail at Cook County Jail following his arrest Tuesday in connection with her death. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealing a homicide.

Police said Peck reported his mother missing last Friday, claiming that she went to walk her dog but the dog came back without her. Authorities say he killed her early Wednesday morning before dismembering her and trying to cover up the scene.

"I put her in the bathtub and hacked her up," prosecutors said Peck told police, at his bond hearing.

Brian allegedly admitted to the killing before his arrest, saying he stomped on Gail's head and neck until she died. Prosecutors said he killed her because she had told him he was playing Jimi Hendrix music too loudly.

After first claiming that his mother had fallen on a plate and knife while bringing a muffin into her bedroom, Peck changed his story when detectives confronted him with evidence he purchased the suitcase and duffel bags found with her body parts and a handsaw inside, prosecutors said. He adjusted his story and said his mother had been armed with a hunting knife and had asked him to leave.

Peck told investigators he drove to Montrose Harbor and threw bags containing his mother's head and arms into Lake Michigan hours after the murder, prosecutors said. The following day, he bought more luggage, stuffed the remaining body parts inside, drove back to Chicago and threw then into the water near Diversey Harbor.

Police have not recovered any further human remains in Montrose Harbor.

While her autopsy was conducted on Sunday, the cause and manner of Gail's death have not been established, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Related:

• Son, Mom Fought Over Loud Music Before Elgin Murder: Prosecutors
  
• Son Admitted Dismembering Mother, Dumping Remains: Prosecutors
  
• Report: Relative Says Remains Are Those Of Elgin Woman

_{Top image via Elgin PD}