Ill. Teacher Allegedly Killed Wife with 3-Day Beating

An Illinois man stands accused of murdering his wife in a brutal beating over the course of three days after she rebuked him for how he was disciplining one of their children, PEOPLE confirms.

Junior high school teacher Michael Kazecki, 38, is being held in lieu of $2 million bond, charged with the first-degree murder of his wife, Rebecca Kazecki, a special-education instructor at another school, according to a statement from the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said Michael was arrested on Tuesday, a day after calling 911 seeking medical treatment for his wife, who he’s alleged to have beaten until she was unconsciousness.

Rebecca, also 38, died in the hospital from blunt force trauma to the head but had apparently sustained injuries across most of her body, according to the prosecutor’s statement.

When he called 911, Michael allegedly told the dispatcher that his wife was having a medical issue.

In addition to murder, he faces charges of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated domestic battery, among other counts, online jail records confirm. He’s yet to enter pleas to the charges against him.

According to prosecutors, Michael hit and kicked his wife over the course of Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

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Authorities say they suspect Michael first attacked his wife after she chastised him for the way he was disciplining one of their three kids, now in state custody.

Prosecutors contend Michael spoke to police about the beatings and wrote a letter accepting responsibility for her death. His lawyer could not be reached for comment by PEOPLE.

Rebecca, according to local news reports, was an eighth-grade special education teacher at Gompers Junior High School in Joliet, where she’d worked for 14 years.

Michael reportedly teaches seventh- and eighth-grade language arts at Washington Junior High School in the same city, where he’s worked for the last 10 years.

PEOPLE was unable to reach representatives from either school for comment.

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