A Joliet man was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder for a 2009 knife attack against his former girlfriend, according to the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Jurors found Bradley Schlott, 48, guilty of attempted first-degree murder at the conclusion of a five-day trial March 2. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 3 and faces between six and 30 years in prison.
According to prosecutors, Schlott attacked his former girlfriend on the morning of March 12, 2009, while she was getting ready for work in the Joliet house they shared. Schlott, who believed the victim was having an affair, repeatedly punched her in the face, grabbed her by the hair, and threw her to the ground. The state’s attorney’s office said he then used a knife to cut away chunks of her hair before slicing her neck and the side of her left breast.
The victim, who was bleeding and bruised, began to beg for her life, eventually convincing her attacker to call 911 by telling him she would say her injuries were the result of an accident. A physician testified for the prosecution during the trial that the victim would have died had she not been treated for her injuries.
“Bradley Schlott is a weak and jealous man who savagely attacked his former girlfriend because he could no longer control her,” State’s Attorney James Glasgow said in a statement. “By fighting back, this courageous victim not only saved her own life but helped police and prosecutors put this monster behind bars.”
Assistant state’s attorneys Tricia McKenna and Marie Griffin presented evidence at trial, including letters written by Schlott, to prove he had every intention of killing his girlfriend. One letter to the victim’s father, mother and brother apologized for her murder, and alleged that she was cheating and had robbed him of his money, family, career, dignity and sanity. A second letter to the victim’s boss accused him and her co-workers of covering up the alleged affair and stated, “I’m not sorry for what I did at all.”
These letters shattered the defense attorney’s theory that Schlott attacked his girlfriend after he had become involuntarily intoxicated on prescription medication he was using to treat his depression.