‘I think I’m dying’: Former wife of Dusty Boots Saloon owner recounts his last moments in fatal stabbing

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) – Dr. Cathy Dzik, who now goes by Cathy Middleton, was a chiropractor at Advanced Medical Rehab in Loves Park on May 31, 2016, when she and her husband Joe Pendergrass showed up at the business to reset the burglar alarm.

Dzik told the jury Wednesday in the murder trial of the man accused of killing Pendergrass that she frantically tried to get him to a hospital after he was stabbed inside the building.

“He said, ‘I think I’m dying,’ Dzik said.

Pendergrass, 59, was fatally stabbed by 60-year-old Roland Breault, whose wife was part owner of the clinic. After the stabbing, Dzik attempted to drive her husband to the hospital. Instead, he lost consciousness in a nearby parking lot.

“He was gasping for air,” Dzik said. “And I grabbed (a) towel and applied pressure to his chest.”

Dzik said Breault was not authorized to be in the building and had been videoing and harassing employees. She said her husband confronted Breault, who later pulled out a knife.

“Roland started walking toward us with his phone up, recording,” Dzik said. “Joe slapped the phone out of his hand.”

Pendergrass and Breault then fought as Dzik attempted to retrieve Breault’s phone, which ended up in an X-ray room.

Breault’s lawyer, Stephen M. Komie, said his client does not deny using the folding pocket knife to end the fight and only did so because he was being overpowered by a much stronger Pendergrass. He said surveillance video shows Breault acted in self-defense .

“Cleary, the aggressor here was the decedent,” Komie said.

Joe Pendergrass owned Dusty Boots Saloon at the time of his death.

Breault is charged with first-degree murder. His trial resumes Thursday at the Winnebago County Justice Center in Rockford.

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