Adam Beckerink: Murder Charges, Plea, and Pretrial Evidence Fights

The Adam Beckerink murder case is a pending Cook County first-degree murder prosecution against a 47-year-old former Chicago tax attorney accused of pushing his wife, 36-year-old Caitlin Tracey, from a 24th-floor stairwell railing in their South Loop condominium building on October 25, 2024. Beckerink has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail at the Cook County Jail. No trial date has been set.

How Caitlin Tracey Died

Tracey and Beckerink had been in a relationship since 2022 and shared a condo at 1201 South Prairie Avenue in the South Loop, along with a home in New Buffalo, Michigan.¹ Shortly before 11:30 p.m. on October 25, 2024, residents on the 11th floor reported hearing an unusually loud noise in the building’s stairwell that sounded like something striking metal.²

Two days later, a tenant discovered a severed foot in the stairwell. Police then found Tracey’s body at the bottom of the stairs.³ The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the cause of death as multiple injuries from a fall from height.⁴

What Beckerink Told Police

After Tracey’s death, Beckerink told the building’s concierge that she had been missing since October 25 and filed a missing person report with Chicago police. He told officers Tracey had left for a run around 9 or 10 p.m. without her phone or keys, and that he himself had been in Michigan for over a month.¹

Investigators contradicted those claims. Building surveillance footage showed the couple together on October 24, and additional footage from around 3:00 a.m. on October 26 captured Beckerink moving a luggage cart loaded with bags and jackets out of the building’s parking garage.⁵ Prosecutors say no surveillance footage shows Tracey leaving the building for a run at the time Beckerink described. He was held for questioning for two days after the body was found and then released without charges. Chicago Police Area 3 detectives continued to investigate for over a year before charges were filed.⁴

The Domestic Violence History Behind the Charges

The prosecution’s case rests in part on a documented pattern of abuse. Tracey had repeatedly reported domestic battery by Beckerink to Chicago police. In November 2023, she obtained an order of protection against him in Cook County, describing in her application being strangled, suffocated, having her head slammed against a cabinet, being placed in a headlock, and being pulled away from doors.⁶ She dropped the protective order in December 2023. Court filings by her parents allege she did so after Beckerink threatened to sue her for defamation.⁴

Prosecutors have also disclosed that Tracey previously told a court-appointed victim advocate Beckerink had threatened to throw her over a flight of stairs.¹

In Michigan, Beckerink faced separate domestic violence charges from incidents at the couple’s New Buffalo home. Police body camera footage from August 19, 2024, captured officers restraining Beckerink on the floor while Tracey sat nearby in tears.⁷ In October 2025, he pleaded no contest to domestic violence and interfering with a 911 call, and pleaded guilty to contempt of court for violating a no-contact order. He was sentenced to 93 days in jail and two years of probation.⁶

The Charges and Beckerink’s Plea

On October 27, 2025, one year after Tracey’s body was discovered, Cook County prosecutors secured an arrest warrant charging Beckerink with first-degree murder.⁸ He was still serving his Michigan jail sentence. On January 12, 2026, immediately upon release from the Berrien County Jail, he was arrested by Chicago police and the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force and transported to Cook County.⁴

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke announced the murder charge on January 13, 2026, calling domestic violence-related homicides a “crisis point” and pledging to prosecute such crimes “with the urgency, seriousness and resolve they demand.”⁹

On February 19, 2026, Beckerink appeared at the Leighton Criminal Court Building and pleaded not guilty to an expanded set of charges:

First-degree murder for allegedly pushing Tracey from the 24th-floor railing.
Concealment of a homicidal death.
Making a false report to 911, based on the missing person report.
Making a false report to a public safety agency, based on his statements to investigators.

By mid-2026, according to ABC 7 reporting, Beckerink had been indicted on nine total charges, including six counts of murder and multiple counts of concealment and false reporting.¹⁰

What Each Side Is Arguing

At a January 16, 2026 detention hearing before Cook County Judge Susan Ortiz, prosecutors argued Beckerink posed a “real and present threat to the community.” They presented evidence that only Beckerink’s DNA was found on the hallway-side handle of the 24th-floor stairwell door, and they cited the victim advocate’s account of Beckerink’s prior threat to throw Tracey over the stairs.¹¹

Defense attorney Todd Pugh countered that the death was “self-inflicted,” arguing Tracey “fell to her death” while alone in the stairwell. Pugh characterized the couple’s relationship as “toxic” and marked by mutual struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, and noted that there were no witnesses.¹² The defense pointed to toxicology findings indicating Tracey had ingested alcohol, cocaine, Vicodin, Tramadol, and Cialis at or near the time of her death.¹¹ The defense has also noted that no surveillance video shows Beckerink “doing anything to Tracey,” while prosecutors have argued that circumstantial evidence, including the stairwell-door DNA and Beckerink’s false statements, supports the murder charge.²

Judge Ortiz ruled the state met its burden and ordered Beckerink held without bail pending trial.¹¹

Pretrial Fights Over Evidence

The pretrial phase has produced sharp disputes. Prosecutors have sought access to Beckerink’s mental health intake records and a “bruise sheet” from his processing into Cook County Jail. Pugh “vehemently objected” to their release, and a hearing on the matter was scheduled for March 2026.¹⁰

The defense has also argued that personal diaries recovered from Beckerink are protected by attorney-client privilege because they were written in booklets bearing the name of his former law firm. Prosecutors are additionally seeking access to his personal electronic devices. A separate dispute concerns DNA evidence: the state intends to conduct testing that could consume the remaining biological samples, and the defense argues that destroying the evidence without allowing independent testing would violate Beckerink’s constitutional rights.¹³

Beckerink’s Removal From Duane Morris

Beckerink had been a tax partner at Duane Morris LLP. After Tracey’s death became public and domestic violence allegations surfaced in media reports, the firm’s partners board removed him. Duane Morris said in a statement that the firm had not been aware of the domestic violence allegations “until recent media accounts of her death” and that “once we confirmed key facts, the partners board swiftly removed Adam as a partner of Duane Morris LLP. He is no longer associated with our firm.”¹⁴

Where the Case Stands

Beckerink remains in custody at the Cook County Jail after being ordered held without bail. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. No trial date has been publicly announced. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorneys Stephanie Gersch and Kevin Nolan of the Complex Homicides unit, with Todd Pugh leading the defense.⁹

1
Chicago Sun-Times. Caitlin Tracey’s Husband Pleads Not Guilty to New Charges in Her Death
2
CBS News Chicago. Adam Beckerink Murder Estranged Wife Caitlin Tracey
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CBS News Chicago. Adam Beckerink Caitlin Tracey Murder Due in Court
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Fox 32 Chicago. Caitlin Tracey Adam Beckerink Murder Charge
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NBC Chicago. Caitlin Tracey’s Husband Pleads Not Guilty to Charges in Her Death
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ABC 7 Chicago. Adam Beckerink Sentenced Domestic Violence Michigan
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ABC 7 Chicago. Bodycam Video of Caitlin Tracey Detailing Domestic Abuse Allowed in Trial
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NBC Chicago. Adam Beckerink Caitlin Tracey Murder Warrant Arrest
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Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Cook County State’s Attorney Announces Murder Charge Against Chicago Attorney
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ABC 7 Chicago. Adam Beckerink Pleads Not Guilty
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ABC 7 Chicago. Adam Beckerink Detention Hearing
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Chicago Tribune. Adam Beckerink Detention Hearing
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ABC 7 Chicago. Battle for Access to Evidence in Beckerink Case
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Above the Law. Former BigLaw Partner to Face Charges He Killed His Wife