Joliet's 'Cold Justice' No Body Murder Case: Mysterious Letter Mailed To Judge Smigielski

JOLIET, IL — Former Will County judge-turned private defense attorney Dave Carlson lost Wednesday morning's hearing in front of Will County Judge Art Smigielski in regard to the plight of his client, 82-year-old Joliet Township first-degree murder defendant Gil Bernal.

Carlson argued that Bernal should be let out of the Will County Jail immediately because he previously had a bail of $250,000 set by now-retired judge Rodney Lechwar back in 1993. Bernal paid the necessary 10 percent and remained free as his murder case was pending before it was ultimately dismissed in 1994.

Now, 34 years later, Bernal was arrested in Michigan and charged on Jan. 2 with the December 1988 disappearance and death of his wife Joan, whose body has never been found.

Last September, interest in the Joliet Township murder mystery was renewed when the Oxygen network's "Cold Justice" true-crime show aired a one-hour special about Joan Bernal's unsolved slaying, focusing on efforts by the Will County Sheriff's Office to bring justice to the grieving family and friends of Joan Bernal.

"This is a re-file, nothing has changed," Carlson argued on Wednesday morning. "This was a previously charged case. There was due process and here we are 34 years later, dealing with the same issues the court has already dealt with."

Prosecutors at the Will County State's Attorney's Office argued that whatever happened with Bernal's murder case in court back in 1993 and 1994 is no longer relevant. They argued that Bernal must now face a pretrial detention under the new Illinois SAFE-T-Act that took effect in 2024 and that no amount of cash bail is relevant anymore.

In the end, Judge Smigielski agreed.

"This is a new case," the judge told everyone. "We have to have a new hearing under the law that is in effect."

After losing Wednesday's hearing, Carlson huddled with his fellow criminal defense counsel he brought along to assist him with Bernal's defense, John Fotopoulos.

The two men left the courtroom for several minutes before they returned and asked Judge Smigielski to delay the actual SAFE-T-Act hearing for Bernal until next week.

The judge agreed and set the SAFE-T-Act hearing for next Wednesday.

Then came the judge's announcement that nobody expected.

Judge Smigielski revealed that a woman named Rachel Bounds from Santa Fe, New Mexico, had just sent him a letter through the U.S. mail regarding Gil Bernal's case.

The judge said he had not opened the letter and had no idea what's revealed in the letter, but he wanted it on the record that a letter was sent.

"I have no idea who this is," Judge Smigielski announced.

After conferring with the lawyers, the judge indicated he would be willing to open the letter in the presence of all the attorneys on the same date as next week's hearing.

One of Bernal's daughters previously told Joliet Patch that she believes her father murdered her mother back at the family's house in the Preston Heights area along Zarley Boulevard and then disposed of her body in the far Southwest, perhaps in Texas or in Mexico.

Gil Bernal and his wife Joan both worked together at the Joliet public transit building off South Chicago Street. She was a bus driver, and he worked as a mechanic.