Background: News footage of Adam Beckerink in court in June (WLS). Inset: Caitlin Tracey (Michalik Funeral Home).

Adam Beckerink, age 47, recently pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in Berrien County, Michigan. Last week, he received a sentence of 93 days in jail and two years’ probation. This legal development occurred nearly a year after the death of his wife, 36-year-old Caitlin Tracey, whose lifeless body was discovered at the base of a 24-story stairwell in their shared high-rise residence.

On Monday, court documents revealed that Beckerink has been formally charged with first-degree murder in connection to Tracey’s untimely death in Cook County.

According to local ABC affiliate WLS, a criminal complaint and arrest warrant for first-degree murder were filed and approved by a judge in Cook County court. Authorities now contend that Beckerink was responsible for Tracey’s death in October 2024. Her body was found in a severely damaged state, with her foot severed. Despite a history of documented domestic violence involving Beckerink, he had until now only been a suspect, not formally charged with her murder.

During Beckerink’s sentencing hearing last week, Tracey’s mother, Dr. Monica Tracey, expressed her grief and anger, reportedly labeling Beckerink a “monster.” She told the court, “No matter how much we tried to save her, she was caught in a cycle of control,” and lamented, “It isn’t just her death that haunts us. It’s the slow-moving destruction of her life.”

WLS reported that Tracey’s mother called Beckerink a “monster” during his sentencing hearing last week. Dr. Monica Tracey told the judge in that case, “No matter how much we tried to save her, she was caught in a cycle of control,” adding, “It isn’t just her death that haunts us. It’s the slow-moving destruction of her life.”

The Tracey family released a statement following the filing of the murder charge in Cook County that read in part, “We dearly miss Caitlin as do her friends. 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.”

Beckerink is currently in jail, serving his sentence for domestic violence in Michigan’s Berrien County.