Donald Pelka

The conviction of a Bartlett man in the 2018 shooting death of a spa worker near Bloomingdale has been upheld. 

The Third District Appellate Court on Friday affirmed the first-degree murder conviction of 65-year-old Donald Pelka in the shooting death of 29-year-old Kyle Goidas of Glendale Heights. 

In his appeal seeking a new trial, Pelka claimed that the cumulative effect of three errors committed by the trial court deprived him of his right to a fair trial. The three alleged errors presented by Pelka address the admissibility of security video footage, the preclusion of specific evidence and jury instructions. 

At 3:30 a.m. Sept. 28, 2018, DuPage County Sheriff’s deputies and officers with the Bloomingdale Police Department responded to a call of shots fired at the Bella One Spa, located at 25W319 Lake St. near Bloomingdale. 

Upon their arrival, authorities found Goidas, an employee at Bella One Spa, unresponsive suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Ten minutes later, officers with the Hanover Park Police Department observed Pelka speeding and conducted a traffic stop. During the traffic stop, officers were advised that the vehicle in which Pelka was traveling matched the vehicle that was involved in the shooting. Pelka was taken into custody at that time. 

An investigation into the murder found that Pelka was a customer at Bella One Spa and that Pelka and Goidas had gotten into a verbal altercation in the parking lot of the establishment at which time Pelka pulled out a handgun and shot Goidas twice in the torso. 

The following day, Pelka appeared in Bond Court where bond was set at $1 million with 10 percent to apply. He had remained in custody at the DuPage County Jail prior to his trial. 

On June 16, 2022, following a five-day trial, a jury found Pelka guilty of first-degree murder; and on Aug. 18, 2022, Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh sentenced Pelka to 50 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections to be served at 100 percent.           

In their decision, the Appellate Court rejected Pelka’s claims and found that the security video footage was properly admitted and there was “no indication of improper manipulation of the video.” 

The Appellate Court also rejected Pelka’s claims that the trial court erred in not allowing evidence regarding bromantane allegedly found in the victim’s backpack after he was murdered stating, “the autopsy did not show the presence of any drugs in Goidas’ system, there was not testimony from employees that he took bromantane.” 

Pelka’s final claim of abuse of discretion by the trial court was also rejected with the Appellate Court noting that the trial court gave the jury proper instructions. In their conclusion, the Appellate Court summarized “Finding no errors, we thus find no cumulative error.” 

“I thank the Appellate Court for their thorough analysis of this case and their finding that no errors, let alone the cumulative effect of multiple errors, were committed by the trial court affecting Mr. Pelka’s trial,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said. “This decision will ensure that Mr. Pelka spends the rest of his life behind bars for the cowardly, unprovoked shooting of an unarmed man while he was at work.” 

Third District Presiding Justice Mary McDade delivered the judgment of the court with Justices William Holdridge and Joseph Hettel concurring.