Round Lake Beach Man Gets 78 Years For Libertyville Man's Murder

LAKE COUNTY, IL — Kenneth Seplak, the Round Lake Beach man guilty in the December 2016 murder of a Libertyville man who dated a woman Seplak stalked was sentenced to 78 years in prison Wednesday. Seplak, 40, was sentenced by Lake County Circuit Court Judge Mark Levitt to 52 years in prison for the first degree murder of 30-year-old David Gorski, in addition to an additional 25 years in prison for using a firearm to commit first degree murder, according to a release from the Lake County State's Attorney's Office.

Seplak was found guilty by a Lake County jury in June of shooting Gorski at about 11 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2016, the state's attorney's office said. The fatal shooting happened near a Vernon Hills movie theater where Gorski went on a date with a Wauconda woman Seplak was accused of stalking, the release added.

According to the release, Assistant Lake County State's Attorneys Jim Newman and John Brown said during the trial that Seplak followed the woman to the movie theater, saw her go inside with Gorski, then left the Vernon Hills theater and went to his Round Lake Beach home, where he grabbed a gun.

Authorities said Seplak drove back to the theater and waited for the pair to come out before following Gorski. Seplak shot Gorski in the chest when their two cars were moving beside one another, the release said.

Gorski was found slumped over the wheel of his car on Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville, and was pronounced dead shortly after at nearby hospital, according to authorities.

Levitt said Seplak is required to serve the entire 78-year prison sentence before being eligible for parole, according to the release.

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"We are extremely satisfied with the judge's imposed sentence," Lake County State's Attorney Michael G. Nerheim, in the release. "We hope this sentence brings some measure of peace and closure to the entire Gorski family."

At Wednesdays court hearing, Newman said Seplak made "hundreds of bad decisions" the night of the shooting, and there was "no justification for the actions" Seplak took that night, the release said. Newman also credited the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force and the Libertyville Police Department who he said did an exceptional job investigating the case.