A Wonder Lake man who was convicted in 2002 of fatally shooting his wife, and who last year was cleared of felony domestic battery charges, made an initial court appearance Thursday on new charges.

Charles Gozzola, 51, is charged with two counts of domestic battery, Class A misdemeanors, according to the criminal complaint filed in the McHenry County court.

Gozzola was found not guilty last year of felony domestic battery last year by Judge Mark Gerhardt, in a case involving the same person.

In court Thursday, Assistant State’s Attorney Margaret O’Brien said Gozzola is dangerous and no conditions could keep the alleged victim safe. She argued for his pretrial detention in the county jail, which Judge Christopher Harmon granted.

O’Brien noted Gozzola’s 2002 second-degree murder conviction for the killing of his wife. The prosecutor also addressed the 2024 acquittal, saying, “Just because he was found not guilty does not mean it did not happen. It just means the state did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The criminal complaint in the current case says that at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Gozzola “slapped” the alleged victim near her eye, causing a red mark.

O’Brien said he first hit the woman “repeatedly” with a pillow, then with his hand. “[He] slapped her so hard it left a red mark to her face.”

According to the prosecutor, the woman told authorities that Gozzola had “threatened to kill her, threatened to harm her, threatened to kill himself and prevented her from leaving,” the prosecutor said. The woman said she “sometimes feels she is in danger” and that Gozzola “takes away her phone and stops her from leaving.”

O’Brien also told the judge of a 2019 domestic violence case in Cook County involving another woman and a violation of a protection order. Gozzola was found not guilty of domestic violence; in that case, O’Brien said, contending it was because the accuser would not cooperate.

O’Brien also presented the judge with a call log from the county jail, saying it showed that since his arrest on Wednesday, Gozzola has made 51 “harassing” phone calls to the current alleged victim.

O’Brien also noted the months Gozzola was in the county jail awaiting trial in his 2024 case when he repeatedly “made harassing and threatening phone calls.”

Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger noted the woman refused medical treatment and that Gozzola’s phone calls from jail were because he was trying to get his lawyer’s phone number.

As for Gozzola’s past cases, Giesinger said Gozzola’s already served time for his wife’s murder and was acquitted in the 2019 and 2024 domestic violence cases. In this case, Gozzola is “presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Giesinger said.

He said Gozzola is a truck driver and has family he could stay with if released with conditions, including GPS monitoring and a no-contact order.

But O’Brien responded that “there is no way for this court to keep [the woman] safe.”

Harmon agreed and said Gozzola is a “real and present threat” to the woman.

Harmon allowed Gazzola two phone calls from jail but said he is “to have no contact whatsoever” with the alleged victim in this case, not even through a third party.

In finding Gozzola not guilty last year of felony domestic battery, Gerhardt said he found a “variability of credibility” of witnesses. Witnesses had reported seeing Gozzola manhandle, grab, chest-bump the woman and throw a water bottle at her in the parking lot of a Crystal Lake fitness facility. They also said they saw him shove her into a vehicle and drive off.

He was later arrested at his home, where police broke through the door after there was no answer. A video of that raid was shown in court during trial.

The woman involved testified during that trial and said Gozzola was not hurting or shoving her that day. She said she did not fear him, feel controlled by him, nor did he abuse her.

During that 2024 trial, Gerhardt would not allow prosecutors to play the jailhouse calls O’Brien referred to in court Thursday. Prosecutors said in that case said the tapes would have shown the judge Gozzola’s “propensity” for violence, harassment and intimidation toward the woman.

In finding him not guilty in that case, Gerhardt said he did not consider the man’s earlier second-degree murder conviction.

In 2000, Gozzola was charged with first-degree murder of his wife, Beth Gozzola, who was shot in the back of her head in their home near Northbrook. In 2002, he pleaded guilty in Cook County court to an amended charge of second-degree murder in the case, records show; he was sentenced to 30 years in prison but was released early.