Local News

$1 Million Bond For Man Accused Of Killing Fiancée

Trolus Pickett Accused Of Shooting Girlfriend In Multiple Places

MARKHAM, Ill. (STNG) ― Bond was set at $1 million Friday for a 42-year-old south suburban man accused of murdering his fiancee.

Trolus Pickett of Park Forest shot Bellisa Gourdine, 32, in the chest, back and buttocks shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday at their home in the 300 block of Nokomis Street, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Kelly Grekstas told Judge Reginald Baker during a brief hearng Friday morning at the Markham courthouse.

Neighbors heard the shots and called police, she said. When officers arrived, they found Pickett in a bloody T-shirt with a .45-caliber handgun at his feet.

Gourdine was found in another room, lying on her stomach, Grekstas said. Before she died, she identified Pickett as her killer.

Eight spent casings and bullets were recovered from the scene, she said.

Assistant Public Defender Toya Harvey said Pickett was an Air Force veteran who had been working recently for a shipping company. He has no prior convictions, she said.

Pickett, wearing light blue medical scrubs and a bandage on his right hand, did not speak during the hearing. Three family members in court to support him declined to comment.

Gourdine, a security guard and mother of three, died at 7:55 p.m. Wednesday at St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields, an hour after being shot three times from her work-issued handgun.

Before she died, she identified her boyfriend as her killer, Police Chief Thomas Fleming said.

Pickett has a history of violence against his neighbors, police said. Court records show he was cleared by a judge in June of the aggravated assault of a pregnant neighbor after Gourdine testified in his defense.

Jill Linkious alleged the man came after her with a baseball bat Oct. 13, yelling at her, "I got a bat for you and your dog, bitch!" He also had threatened her on two other occasions, once with a gun, Linkious said, although police did not bring charges in those cases.

Speaking Thursday morning, Linkious said she thought police could have done more to deal with him before tragedy struck Wednesday night.

"I told them he had a gun in March, but they didn't do anything about it," she said. "I was pregnant, and I was terrified -- this could have been prevented."

But Fleming said police fully investigated Linkious' claims.

"We brought charges in one case, and in the case with the gun, three officers were on the scene within a minute and a half of her call, and they spent half an hour knocking on doors and interviewing neighbors," he said. "That may not sound like much, but when you've got calls coming in around the clock, 1 1/2 hours of officer time is a lot."

(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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