Criminal Justice
Ex-BigLaw partner was ‘brute’ and ‘monster’ who battered his wife, her mother says at his sentencing
A former Duane Morris partner whose wife was found dead at the bottom of a stairwell in his Chicago condo building was sentenced to 93 days in jail and two years of probation Monday in a case stemming from domestic abuse in two prior incidents at her Michigan home. (Image from Shutterstock)
A former Duane Morris partner whose wife was found dead at the bottom of a stairwell in his Chicago condo building was sentenced to 93 days in jail and two years of probation Monday in a case stemming from domestic abuse in two prior incidents at her Michigan home.
Tax lawyer Adam P. Beckerink was sentenced in Berrien County, Michigan, after he pleaded guilty in August to contempt of court and no contest to domestic abuse and interfering with a 911 call by his 36-year-old wife, Caitlin Tracey.
ABC 7 Chicago, the Chicago Sun-Times, NBC Chicago and Fox 32 Chicago are among the publications with coverage.
The contempt charge was based on an allegation that Beckerink showed up intoxicated for a court-ordered drug test and then defecated on the floor, ABC 7 Chicago reports.
Tracey’s body was found in October 2024 in Beckerink’s South Loop residential building with a severed foot and skull and rib fractures. He was ousted as a partner at Duane Morris in November 2024 after Tracey’s parents alleged in court documents that Beckerink physically abused their daughter in Michigan. Beckerink has not been charged in his wife’s death.
Tracey’s mother, Monica Tracey, gave a victim impact statement in court. ABC 7 Chicago and Fox 32 Chicago were there.
“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 he took away her cellphone, so she could not summon help,” Monica Tracey said.
“The defendant ruined our beautiful daughter. He is a monster,” she said.
Beckerink said in court he misses his wife every day, according to Fox 32 Chicago.
“And if she were here,” he said, “this would be a whole different thing because she asked several times, she wrote an email that was going to go to the prosecutor, wanting all these charges dropped. We got married, we had a great life.”
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