Joliet 'Cold Justice' Murder Defendant Gilbert Bernal, 82, Learns This Judge Will Handle His Court Case

JOLIET, IL — Will County's longest-serving judge, Amy Bertani-Tomczak recused herself on Monday morning from handling the new first-degree murder case against Gilbert Bernal. She informed everyone gathered in Courtroom 405 that she previously worked in the Will County State's Attorney's Office during the early 1990s, and that she remembers the case quite well. Following her recusal, the case was reassigned to Will County Courtroom 503 of Judge Art Smigielski, and he assigned the case to himself, indicating he does not have any conflicts of interest.

The 82-year-old former Joliet resident, who now lives in Flint, Michigan, was escorted into the Will County Courthouse on Monday morning wearing forest green jail attire. He learned the crime of first-degree murder carries a sentence of 20 to 60 years, with any sentence being served at 100 percent.

Bernal is being charged in the death and disappearance of his wife, Joan Bernal, who vanished from their Joliet home on Zarley Boulevard in December 1988 and has never been seen alive since.

The Will County Sheriff's Office, under the leadership of new undersheriff Dan Jungles, reopened the investigation in recent years and worked with the Oxygen network's popular true-crime show, "Cold Justice." A one-hour show on the Joan Bernal murder mystery aired in September.

On Monday, Judge Smigielski ordered Gilbert Bernal to remain in the Will County Jail until at least next Monday, Jan. 12, when the judge will conduct Bernal's all-important pretrial detention hearing.

Since Illinois did away with cash bail, judges have the discretion of deciding whether a criminal defendant should be incarcerated while they await trial. Typically, defendants are ordered detained if the judge feels they met the legal criteria known as the dangerousness standard, or they are considered a flight risk, or both.

For the time being, Bernal is being represented by the Will County Public Defender's Office as his defense counsel.

During an interview on Sunday, one of Bernal's daughters told Joliet Patch that she hopes her father, given his age and that he's incarcerated facing murder charges, will finally reveal where he hid Joan Bernal's body. The daughter believes that Gilbert Bernal hid Joan's body somewhere in southwest Texas or in Mexico.

After Monday morning's court hearing, the Will County Sheriff's Office posted a Facebook announcement about Bernal's arrest.

"Joan Bernal was last seen alive on December 9, 1988. It is alleged that Gilbert T. Bernal and his wife Joan had a domestic violence incident occur at their residence before a planned family trip to Texas," the sheriff's office announced. "Both Joan and Gilbert had children from previous marriages and had one child in common. It is alleged that during a dispute on whether to take all the children to Texas for Christmas, Joan’s ex-husband disallowed their shared children to go with the couple. There was then eyewitness testimony that Gilbert Bernal began physically battering Joan inside their residence in Joliet and then dragged her to the rear of the residence. This was the last time she was reported being seen alive.

"At the time, her husband Gilbert reported her missing on December 27, 1988, stating he left her at a bus stop in McAlister, Oklahoma. Despite extensive investigations, Joan’s body has never been found, and the case remained one of Will County’s most haunting cold cases."

More Joliet Patch Coverage of Joan Bernal Case:

She Wants Her Jailed Dad To Reveal Where He Put Joan Bernal's Body: Joliet's 'Cold Justice' Murder Heats Up

Joliet Cold Case Solved: Michigan Man, 82, Arrested In Wife's 1988 Murder, Disappearance

Unsolved Joliet Murder: Missing Woman's Body Has Never Been Found