Dec. 03--The man who police say gunned down his former girlfriend in Nordstrom and then killed himself had physically attacked a man he saw with the woman just six days earlier, fracturing a bone around his right eye, according to a law enforcement source.
Chicago police said Tuesday that detectives were trying to arrange an array of photos in hopes the victim of the attack would identify Marcus Dee as his assailant. Dee shot ex-girlfriend Nadia Ezaldein in the head and then turned the gun on himself in front of stunned shoppers in the North Michigan Avenue store on Black Friday.
Six days earlier, on Nov. 22, Dee had spotted Ezaldein with a man at a party at a Near West Side warehouse at about 4 a.m., according to the law enforcement sources. Dee ran up and punched the man in the right eye, thinking he was Ezaldein's new boyfriend, said the source, citing a police report.
The man checked himself into the University of Chicago Medical Center for treatment of broken bones around his right eye, a source said. He was later released.
Ezaldein and the man were friends who attended the University of Chicago, though Ezaldein was taking a break from school to work at Nordstrom.
The friend, 23, of South Barrington, declined to comment when reached by telephone Tuesday night.
According to the law enforcement source, the victim called 311 to report the crime to police the day after the incident.
The police report initially categorized the incident as a simple battery, the source said. But once a detective was assigned to the case, he reclassified the incident as an "aggravated battery," a felony offense crime, police spokesman Marty Maloney said Tuesday night.
The report incorrectly identified the offender as 28-year-old Marcus "Lee," the source said. But after a detective spoke with Ezaldein, listed as a witness in the report, or her friend, the offender was identified as Dee.
At an unrelated press conference Monday, Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy noted the earlier incident and denied media reports that Ezaldein was afraid to go the police because Dee's parents are Chicago police officers.
On Tuesday night, Maloney denied that Dee's parents ever attempted to intervene in the investigation into the Nov. 22 incident.
Ezaldein's family has said Dee physically abused Ezaldein throughout their 16-month relationship. Ezaldein broke up with Dee last December after he put a gun in her mouth, the victim's family said. In the year since, Dee harassed both Ezaldein and her family, making threatening calls to her father and siblings, relatives said.
In April, both Dee and Ezaldein's sister sought orders of protection but were rebuffed. As part of her petition, Ezaldein's sister, Nagah, alleged that Dee had cracked her sister's ribs and fractured her jaw in March.
But Judge Caroline Moreland denied a protection order, noting that Nadia Ezaldein needed to press the matter herself under the law.
"She's scared to come here," a transcript quoted Nagah Ezaldein as telling the judge.
Investigators are now focusing on how Dee obtained the gun. There's no indication the weapon previously belonged to a police officer, law enforcement sources said.
Dee had a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card "at one time," McCarthy said Monday. He also said the department is looking into whether the murder-suicide could have been prevented.
jgorner@tribpub.com
Twitter @Jeremy Gorner
