Marseilles man guilty in machete attack

A Marseilles man could face up to seven years in prison after a La Salle County jury convicted him Wednesday of attacking a relative with a machete.

Brad C. Bukowski, 51, was found guilty of aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony carrying three to seven years, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a Class 3 felony carrying two to five years. A jury deliberated about an hour.

Bukowski bowed his head as the verdicts were read. He did not testify at trial but will have an opportunity to address La Salle County Circuit Judge Cynthia M. Raccuglia at sentencing, set for June 20. He could be sentenced to jail, probation and/or community service if Raccuglia opts against prison.

Bukowski was charged April 20, 2023, after Marseilles police were alerted to an injury sustained with a machete. The victim told police he went to Bukowski’s residence to fetch another relative’s cats and Bukowski appeared wielding a machete.

“I’m going gut you like a (expletive) pig,” the victim said Bukowski told him. “And he cut me.”

The victim testified he didn’t immediately know he’d been cut, though the injury left “a trail of blood,” witnesses said. He required stitches to his left forearm and still has difficulty grabbing and holding objects with that hand.

During closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutor Jeremiah Adams said Bukowski cut and hurt the victim – simple as that. And Bukowski hurt the victim, Adams said, “for having the audacity to knock on the door and ask for (a relative’s) cats.”

La Salle defense attorney Doug Kramarsic argued that prosecutors couldn’t prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt and “there’s doubt all over this case.”

Prosecutors, he said, never called a critical eyewitness but instead over-relied on the testimony of the relative, whose statements needed to be taken with a grain of salt.

If Bukowski had swung or chopped with the machete, Kramarsic argued, then the victim would have shown up in court “with one and a half arms.” Instead, the victim did not at first notice the injury, suggesting the injury was from incidental contact rather than a deliberate hack.

Adams countered that it is unsurprising the victim didn’t immediately feel the cut, suggesting nerve damage may have been an issue.

“But that’s a significant cut on his arm,” Adams said, “which he will live with for the rest of his life.”

Kramarsic and Adams deferred comment until sentencing.