Joliet Double Murder Defendant On PCP During Questioning? Will County Judge Issues Her Verdict

JOLIET, IL — Tommie McDonald, the Joliet first-degree double murder defendant who has remained in the Will County Jail for more than five-and-a-half years without a trial date, recently learned whether his Joliet Police Department interrogations were ruled admissible.

Joliet police arrested McDonald in February 2020 following the gunshot deaths of 53-year-old Bernard Marble and 45-year-old Tracy Williams inside a sport utility vehicle near South Chicago Street and Fifth Avenue.

"Throughout the interrogation, the defendant displays intoxication due to PCP usage," McDonald's Will County public defenders Jaya Varghese and Stephen Whitmore argued in their motion seeking to suppress their client's Joliet Police Department interrogation hours after the double murders.

"That defendant's state of intoxication from his usage of PCP rendered his waiver of Miranda null as the waiver was not knowingly and voluntarily entered ... the defendant, Tommie W. McDonald, respectfully requests this honorable court to suppress all of the defendant's prearrest and post arrest statements both oral and written."

Will County Judge Amy Christiansen spent the past several months reviewing evidence offered by the Will County Public Defender's Office and the Will County State's Attorney's Office before reaching her decision. The judge's ruling is a partial victory for both sides.

Judge Christiansen ruled that McDonald's "motion to suppress statements made at the police station prior to his Miranda warnings being issued at 7:51 a.m. is granted. The court finds the defendant was not free to leave and the questioning was custodial."

The judge also ruled, however, that McDonald's motion to suppress his statements post Miranda warnings being issued at 7:51 a.m. is denied.

"The defendant was not so grossly intoxicated as to render his waiver of his warnings invalid," Judge Christiansen announced. "He had become more sober as he sat in the police station for over four and a half hours. His intoxication goes to the weight to be given by the trier of fact to the statement, not to the admissibility of the statement."

Joliet Police Find 2 Bodies Inside SUV Stopped In Roadway

According to Will County prosecutors, Joliet police responded to South Chicago and Fifth Avenue at 12:49 a.m. on Feb. 26, 2020, for a white SUV stopped in the roadway and the driver was slumped over behind the wheel.

Tracy Williams, the driver, was dead from a gunshot to his face and Bernard Marble, the backseat passenger, was unresponsive. A black handgun was on the front passenger floorboard.

Williams and Marble were pronounced dead at 1:10 a.m. and 1:20 a.m., respectively. While Joliet police were investigating the shooting deaths, McDonald walked up to the crime scene at 1:25 a.m. and asked Officer David Mueller if Tracy Williams was inside the vehicle, prosecutors outlined in their August court filings.

About 90 minutes later, Officer Mueller was notified that McDonald's identification was discovered inside the same SUV where the slain bodies were found. The Joliet officer later tracked down McDonald at his girlfriend's house, and McDonald agreed to go to the police station to give a statement.

The Joliet police videotape began at 3:19 a.m. and the interview was conducted by detective Carlos Matlock, who is now deputy police chief of criminal investigations. Detective Shawn Filipiak was also involved in the interview, and McDonald was read his Miranda warnings at 7:51 a.m.

"Overall, defendant was able to responsively answer questions, move around the room appropriately, as was able to make requests for his needs and did not appear grossly intoxicated, as required by law to nullify his Miranda waiver," argued Assistant State's Attorney Ashley Kwasneski.

Based on Judge Christiansen's recent ruling, the following statements by McDonald will be suppressed and can't be used at his trial, if and when that occurs:

• McDonald asked Matlock, "what happened?"
• McDonald said "he had a little water," which is a slang term for PCP.
• McDonald told the detectives, "I been smoking this shit long time. I'm still f***ed up, know what I'm saying?"
• While left alone in the interrogation room, McDonald also mumbled out loud, "I don't know what happened."
• Later, McDonald told the detectives, "you know what sherm do, I been smoking long time."
• McDonald asks the detectives what had happened.

On the contrary, the following statements from McDonald will be allowed by the judge because they happened after he was given his Miranda warnings at 7:51 a.m., which is 4 hours and 30 minutes after the interrogation started at the Joliet police station:

• "I'm not worried about this, because, I know, if I shot him, if he was trying to do something, I wasn't trying to hurt Tracy. I don't know what the f*** happened."
• McDonald asked Detective Filipiak how Tracy Williams was doing, adding, "I just hope he's OK. He's like my brother."
• When asked about his PCP use, McDonald answered, "like two of them" and when asked if he shermed a lot lately, he told the detectives, "yeah, man."

Back in February 2023, Joliet Patch reported that "the defendant intends to assert the defense of use of force in defense of person ... self-defense," states a court document from McDonald's two public defenders.

As for McDonald, his next pretrial hearing in Will County Courtroom 402 is set for Dec. 11. McDonald faces four counts of first-degree murder, one count of armed habitual criminal, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Too High On PCP? Joliet's Double Murder Defendant Challenges Interview

Joliet Gangster Disciple Reveals Defense In Double Murder

Joliet Double Murder Defendant Gets OK To Attend Dad's Funeral