Winnetka Man Murdered Lawyer, Tried To Kill Sister: Prosecutors

WINNETKA, IL — A Winnetka man is accused of trying to murder his sister after killing his brother-in-law at their Northfield home. John Gately pointed a gun at his sister Joan after shooting her husband, Stephen Shapiro, at his doorstep, but his gun failed to fire, authorities said. An argument among family members over finances led to the fatal shooting on Latrobe Avenue Monday that prompted an hourslong standoff with a SWAT team in Winnetka, prosecutors said Thursday at a bond hearing in Skokie.

Gately, 66, of the 1000 block of Tower Road, was charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder and ordered held without bail Thursday.

His sister, Joan Shapiro, had agreed to financially support him months ago until lawsuits over the family's assets were resolved, according to prosecutors. She paid his landlord directly and gave Gately a monthly allowance.

But recently, she told him he would need to improve his budgeting and said she would "no longer just give him money," Assistant State's Attorney Andreana Turano said.

The day before the incident, Gately had damaged his other sister's wrought-iron fence after backing into it. Believing he had been drinking, his sisters began to argue with him. Joan Shapiro also used it as an "example to discuss budgeting" with Gately, according to Turano.

On the morning of the shooting, Gately and his sister spoke again on the phone about financial matters, the prosecutor said. She left her phone at home while running errands and missed several of his calls.

That evening, Joan and Stephen Shapiro had finished a quiet dinner at their home and were listening to a meditation when Gately arrived at the front door around 7:17 p.m., according to prosecutors.

"Where's Joan?" Gately asked, Turano told the court. After Stephen Shapiro told him she was not available, Gately fired multiple shots, striking him twice in the chest.

"Johnny, No!" Shapiro shouted, lurching into the kitchen area, according to Turano. Joan tried to hide behind a chair in the living room. Gately came after her and pointed his gun directly at her.

"I'm going to kill you," he told her, according to the prosecutor.

But the gun failed to fire. When Gately tried to fix it, multiple live bullets fell out of the gun and onto the floor, Turano said.

His sister took the opportunity to grab her phone and take off running. She ran past Gately, out the front door and began yelling for help before hiding behind a car parked across the street and calling 911, according to the prosecution.

After Gately left the house, Joan Shapiro ran back inside to find her husband bleeding from his chest on the kitchen floor. He was taken to Evanston hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. She called other family members and warned them to get out of their homes and gave police her brothers name and address.

Before showing up with a gun at the Shapiros' doorstep and demanding to see his sister, Gately backed up his car into their driveway and left the engine running as if he was getting ready for an escape, prosecutors said. Then, after fleeing and barricading himself in his apartment near Green Bay and Tower roads, Gately tried to get away using a rope tied to his balcony.

With dozens of heavily armed officers from a north suburban SWAT team surrounding his apartment, Gately surrendered to authorities around 10:35 p.m., police said.

Gately, an unemployed New Trier High School graduate, has past criminal convictions related to drunk driving and domestic violence, although none in the past decade, according to prosecutors and his defense attorney. Cook County court records indicate his last arrest was connected to a charge of driving with a suspended license last July.

His lawyer, Chicago-based private attorney Michael Petro, said his client loves his sister and late brother-in-law very much and intends to plead not guilty to the charges.

"He could not say an ill word toward either of them and he was really sorry to learn that Stephen had passed," Petro said. Gately is aware of the charges against him, his defense attorney said, and they had not discussed whether his client remembers the incident.

Petro acknowledged Gately has struggled financially.

"There's no doubt about that," he said, declining to state who was covering his fees. Petro had requested a bond with electronic monitoring and pointed out Gately was in lawful possession of the two firearms seized by police from his home.

Judge Arjana Hansen ordered Gately held without bail at Cook County Jail ahead of an Aug. 30 preliminary hearing, finding him to pose a "real and present threat" due to the prosecutions allegation he planned to flee the scene of the shooting and escape from police.

Stephen Shapiro was a renowned attorney and a partner at Mayer Brown, where he created a specialized Supreme Court and appellate law practice, according to the firm. He was also the lead author on a guide to practicing before the highest court regarded as essential by many lawyers. He was remembered as a brilliant legal mind who was both humble and kind.

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• Fatal Shooting In Northfield, Arrest In Winnetka After Standoff