A Bartlett man who was previously found guilty but mentally ill in the stabbing death of his elderly mother has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Edward Mitzelfeld, 69, formerly of the 700 block of Bryn Mawr Avenue in Bartlett, was found guilty but mentally insane of five counts of First Degree Murder, and has remained in custody at the DuPage County Jail since that time.
On May 29, 2019, at approximately 5:23pm, Bartlett Police officers arrived at the home Mitzelfeld shared with his ninety-three-year-old mother, Frances Kelly, and encountered Mitzelfeld in the front yard of the house with his hands raised. Upon entering the home, officers found Kelly lying face down on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood.
Investigators determined that Mitzelfeld and Kelly were in the kitchen together when Mitzelfeld stabbed Kelly numerous times in the back with a kitchen knife, leaving stab wounds that severed her aorta and entered her lungs. After the murder, Mitzelfeld called 911.
“This afternoon, Judge Guerin sentenced Edward Mitzelfeld to twenty-seven years behind bars, essentially a life sentence, for the stabbing death of his ninety-three-year-old mother,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said. “This heartbreaking case has haunted the Mitzelfeld and Kelly families for the past five years and, with the final chapter now written, I wish them strength as they continue their lives without the love, support and friendship Frances provided. It is my sincerest hope that perhaps with today’s sentencing, Frances’ surviving family and friends will find some measure of closure and keep her memory alive in their hearts for a long time to come.”