Inset (top): Michael Freund (DuPage County State's Attorney's Office). Inset (bottom): Dexter Perkins (GoFundMe). Background: Rosie O'Reilly's in Wheaton, Ill. (Google Maps).
An argument over pizza between two Illinois men ended with one of them dead.
Michael Freund, 51, was found guilty on Oct. 9 of first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Dexter Perkins. The DuPage County State's Attorney's Office said in a press release that Freund and two of his co-workers went to the Rosie O'Reilly's bar in Wheaton, Illinois, on the morning of Dec. 22, 2023, after they finished their shifts.
Perkins, who did not know Freund or the other men, was already at the bar when they arrived. The group of four decided to share a pizza, but when a second pizza was ordered, an argument ensued and quickly escalated.
According to prosecutors, Perkins gave Freund and one of Freund's co-workers each one slice of pizza, then took the rest of the pie for himself to bring home, which "led to a dispute between the men over the pizza and the bar tab." As the argument became more heated, Freund left the bar to get a 9 mm Glock handgun from his truck and then returned to the bar.
The group took their argument to the bar's front porch, where Perkins and one of the co-workers got into a "scuffle." Freund pulled out his gun and fired two shots into the air. When Perkins went after the man he was fighting with, Freund pointed his gun at Perkins and shot him "eight times in the torso and once in the face." He put the gun back into his truck's console.
Police arrived at the scene and arrested Freund. Perkins, a father of two daughters, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Freund is scheduled to appear in court for a presentencing hearing on Nov. 9.