Chicago charges former attorney with murder in wife's 24th-floor fall

Chicago authorities charged a former local attorney with murder on Monday, the first anniversary of his estranged wife’s death, accusing him of throwing her over a 24th floor stairwell railing at a South Loop highrise. Court records filed in the case allege 47-year-old Adam Beckerink fatally pushed 36-year-old Caitlin Tracey from a stairwell in a building on the 1200 block of South Prairie Avenue on Oct. 27, 2024.

Police say Tracey was found at the bottom of the stairwell shortly after 7:20 p.m. A resident first reported finding a severed foot near a railing, which led building staff and responding officers to locate her body. Investigators reported signs of severe trauma; a criminal complaint now accuses Beckerink of causing her death by throwing her over the railing from the 24th floor.

Beckerink is currently jailed in Michigan after pleading no contest in a separate case to a misdemeanor domestic violence count, contempt for violating bond and a felony charge for interfering with a 911 call placed by his wife, according to court records. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped a resisting arrest charge and he received a three month sentence in Michigan. He is...