Judge Braun Sets $2 Million Bail In Joliet Teacher's Murder

JOLIET, IL — A Joliet public school teacher was charged Wednesday with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated domestic battery in connection with the beating death of his wife. Rebecca Kazecki, 38, who died Tuesday, was also employed as a District 86 teacher in Joliet, at Gompers Junior High School. Prosecutors accused Michael Kazecki, also 38, of brutally beating her to death over a period of several days.

Michael Kazecki, a teacher for the past seven years at Washington Junior High School, appeared over a video feed from the Will County jail for Wednesday's bail hearing in Courtroom 305 of Judge Ben Braun. Prosecutors told the judge that Michael Kazecki punched, kicked and struck his wife over the course of three days, from Aug. 4 to 6.

On Monday afternoon, the defendant called 911 to report that his wife was injured, according to courtroom testimony presented by the Will County State's Attorney's Office. Joliet police officers found the woman unconscious on the floor at their family's two-story house in the 700 block of McDonough Street.

Rebecca Kazecki never regained consciousness and she was "brain dead" from blunt force trauma to her head, prosecutors told the judge. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

According to prosecutors, Michael Kazecki was extensively interviewed by detectives at the Joliet Police Department on Tuesday and wrote out a detailed statement confessing to beating his wife and causing her injuries.

The judge was also told by Assistant State's Attorney Jim Long that Michael Kazecki had been disciplining the oldest of the couple's three children several days ago and that when his wife intervened, he began beating her.

One of the first-degree murder counts states that Kazecki "struck Rebecca Kazecki about her body, knowing such acts would cause death to Rebecca Kazecki …"

Long told Braun that the couple's three children, ages 5 -1/2, 9 and 11, are now in the temporary care of family friends. State's Attorney's Office spokesman Chuck Pelkie told Patch and other reporters that the children were interviewed as part of the investigation at Will County's Children's Advocacy Center.

The prosecutor asked Braun to set bail at $5 million for Michael Kazecki, given the violent nature of the alleged crime and the fact that he faces murder charges.

The defendant's private counsel, Nathaniel Tate of Joliet, asked the judge to set bail "at a reasonable amount," given that his client has no prior criminal history and that he is employed as a long-time teacher and former college professor in the Chicago area.

"He's a public school teacher," Tate informed the judge.

Michael Kazecki has worked the past seven years for District 86 as a teacher at Washington, on the city's east side. Before that, he worked as a professor at Joliet Junior College, Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills and Illinois Benedictine in Lisle, which is now called Benedictine University, as well as South Suburban College, located in South Holland, the judge was told.

Tate told the judge his client has "no prior arrests, no prior violent offenses of any class." Before the judge set bail, Tate told Braun, "he greatly contests the nature of the charges."

Tate also said that "there are still some facts that need to be presented to the court" regarding the events in question that led to Rebecca Kazecki's death.

However, Tate said he was not yet ready to divulge that information in an open courtroom at this point.

After hearing from both sides, Judge Braun set bail at $2 million for Michael Kazecki. The judge then informed him over the video feed that the defendant needed to come up with $200,000 cash in order to post bond to remain free while his murder charges are pending at the Will County Courthouse.

Meanwhile, the Will County Coroner's Office issued a press update on Wednesday afternoon declaring that the preliminary autopsy findings determined that Rebecca Kazecki died from head injuries suffered as the result of blunt-force trauma "which appears to be a homicide."

Funeral home selection was still pending at this time, the coroner's staff advised.

2 Joliet Detectives Praised

On Wednesday evening, Joliet's Deputy Police Chief Al Roechner spoke with Joliet Patch reflecting on the investigation and this week's tragic events.

Roechner singled out two of the Joliet Police detectives, David Jackson and Aaron Bandy, for outstanding work on uncovering the facts in this week's homicide of the Joliet school teacher.

"I'm very proud of them," Roechner told Joliet Patch. "This was a beautiful mother who doesn't deserve anything like this. They did an awesome job getting the facts and keeping their composure ... they're great at it."

Roechner said that when Joliet Police were initially summoned to the home on McDonough Street, the husband portrayed the incident as "an alcohol poisoning" or "that she had passed out."

However, Roechner said it was clear once the woman was rushed to St. Joe's and examined by the doctors at the Emergency Room that "she's been beaten severely.

"We were never able to interview her because she was unconscious when we got to the house."

Roechner said it's his understanding that the Joliet Police Department had not been previously called to the couple's house on McDonough Street for any domestic disturbances over the years.

"As far as we know, there were no domestics," he added.

Joliet's deputy chief urged people who know of someone stuck in a cycle of domestic violence "to report it ... before it gets to a situation like this. Report it, and let us figure it out."

Mugshot of Michael Kazecki via Will County Sheriff