The Chicago tech executive found “pulverized” and missing a foot at the bottom of a staircase inside a luxury condo, was allegedly murdered by her husband, who is currently locked up for assaulting her.
Adam Beckerink was charged with the brutal murder of Caitlin Tracey inside his high-rise building in Windy City’s South Loop neighborhood on Oct. 27, 2024, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Tracey, 36, died of “multiple injuries” and a “fall from height” after plummeting more than 20 stories.
Tracey, the Chief People Officer at the since-dissolved AI consultancy firm Nousot, had her foot severed during the fatal fall.
Beckerink, 47, who had previously been arrested for domestic violence against his estranged wife, was detained by police for filing a false missing person’s report claiming he hadn’t seen her in over a month.
Video surveillance at his building captured the two together on Oct. 24, three days before Tracey was found dead.
Exactly a year after her death, prosecutors charged Beckerink with first-degree murder, according to the outlet, citing court records.
“We dearly miss Caitlin as do her friends,” Tracey’s family told the outlet in a statement. “Our family hopes that during the murder case against Adam Beckerink, that the truth about the last months of Caitlin’s life and the events leading to her tragic death are revealed, so our wonderful daughter can finally be laid to rest.”
The grieving relatives alleged that Tracey began acting weird since she started seeing Beckerink.
“Not long after the defendant pushed his way into Caitlin’s life, we witnessed the constant fear in our daughter,” Tracey’s mother, Monica Tracey, said during a court hearing in Michigan. “For over a year, we tried everything we could do to save her from him.”
Beckerink is currently imprisoned at the Berrien County Jail in Michigan after a judge sentenced him to 93 days in prison for domestic violence and contempt of court charges on Oct. 20.
He pleaded no contest to domestic violence and contempt of court stemming from two incidents at Tracey’s home in New Buffalo, Michigan, in January and August 2024.
The Chicago-based tax attorney was eviscerated by the older Tracey who claimed he took the plea deal to get out of describing the abuse her daughter faced.
“Our daughter never stood a chance against this brute. She was beaten, bruised and battered by this brute. And then he is the ultimate controlling coward and took away her cell phone when she tried to summon help,” the heartbroken mother said, according to ABC7 Chicago.
Tracey had filed for a protective order against her husband in November 2023 recalling the horrific abuse she faced at the hands of her alleged future killer.
“Strangling me, suffocating me, slamming my head against a cabinet, putting my head in a headlock, pulling me away from the door,” Tracey told her mom.
“The defendant stalked her, brutalized her, terrorized her and psychologically isolated her from family and friends,” Monica Tracey told the court.
“It isn’t just her death that haunts us; it is the slow-moving destruction of her life. This is now our family’s ongoing trauma, which we are trying to manage,” Tracey’s mother said in court. “Instead of meeting my daughter for dinner, my husband and I visit her grave. There is no justice that can heal our pain.”
Beckerink will remain locked up in the Michigan jail to serve out his sentence before he can face the first-degree murder charge, Berrien County Jail Chief Celena R. Herbert told the Chicago Sun-Times.
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