Bartlett Convicted Murderer Pelka Sentenced To 50 Years In Prison

WHEATON, IL — A 63-year-old Bartlett man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison nearly four years after police said he shot and killed another man at a Bloomingdale spa and nearly two months after he was convicted of first-degree murder.

Donald Pelka must serve 100 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, a DuPage County judge ruled on Thursday. A jury needed just two hours to find Belka guilty of murder in June following a five-day trial.

The fatal shooting took place on Sept. 28, 2018, at the Bella One spa where police arrived to find a spa employee – 29-year-old Kyle Gojdas – unresponsive from gunshot wounds – and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

About 10 minutes later, officers with the Hanover Park Police Department witnessed Pelka speeding and conducted a traffic stop. During the traffic stop, officers received word that the vehicle in which Pelka was traveling matched the vehicle that was involved in the shooting.

Pelka was taken into custody and an investigation into the murder found that Pelka was a customer at Bella One Spa and that Pelka and Gojdas had gotten into a verbal altercation in the parking lot of the spa. Police determined Pelka pulled out a handgun and shot Gojdas twice in the torso.

Pelka has remained in custody since that time.

“Nearly four years ago, in a senseless act of cowardly violence, Donald Pelka murdered Kyle Gojdas,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a news release. “For the past four years, Kyle’s surviving family and friends have been forced to adjust to life without Kyle. While there is nothing that can be done to bring Kyle back to those who loved him, it is my sincerest hope that today’s sentence will provide some measure of justice to those Kyle left behind. I wish them strength, peace, and fond memories of Kyle as they close this horrible chapter in their lives.”