Woman Sentenced To 55 Years In Prison For Double Murder Of Elderly Couple In Algonquin Seeks To Have Sentence Vacated

By Sam Borcia, Lake & McHenry County Scanner

A woman sentenced to 55 years in prison for stabbing an elderly couple to death in Algonquin is asking for her sentence to be vacated after claiming she was coerced into the plea deal.

Arin M. Fox, 42, of Algonquin, was charged in November 2020 with four counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery to a victim older than 60, domestic battery and two counts of unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle.

Fox was arrested in Douglas County, Colorado that same month after police said she fled from Illinois following the murders of Leonard J. Gilard, Jr, 73, and Noreen S. Gilard, 69, both residents of Algonquin.

The Algonquin Police Department was called around 6:40 p.m. on November 8, 2020, to the 600 block of Red Coach Lane in Algonquin for a well-being check.

Officers made entry to the residence and found Leonard J. Gilard and Noreen S. Gilard deceased.

Algonquin Deputy Police Chief Ryan Markham said at the time that the victims’ wounds were consistent with that of a stabbing. No firearm was used in the crime.

Markham said that the incident was believed to be domestic violence-related.

Prosecutors said the couple was killed sometime between November 6 and November 7, 2020.

Fox, who resided in the same home as the victims, fled to Colorado in the couple’s car after their murders.

Prosecutors said she checked herself into a psychiatric facility during the evening hours of November 7, 2020. Fox was later taken into custody.

Fox made statements to others admitting that she harmed the victims, prosecutors said.

Following her arrest, a competency evaluation was completed by two doctors.

The two forensic psychology experts said that Fox’s mental health symptoms were “so severe that they are interfering with her adjudicative competence and her ability to communicate in a rational manner.”

Fox has a “long history” of mental illness and medication non-compliance, and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, court documents show.

One of the experts estimated Fox could be restored to fitness within 60 days of inpatient psychiatric medication and psycho-educational services.

In October 2021, a judge agreed with the doctors’ findings and ruled Fox unfit to stand trial.

The woman was transported to the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services and treated at a secure inpatient facility. Fox’s fitness was deemed restored in June 2022.

She entered into a plea of guilty but mentally ill to one count of first-degree murder during an October hearing in front of McHenry County Judge James Cowlin.

A sentencing hearing was held in December and Cowlin sentenced Fox to 55 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. She faced a maximum of 60 years.

Court records show Fox filed a motion last week to withdraw her guilty plea and have her sentence vacated.

She said she had inadequate representation from the McHenry County Public Defender’s Office.

Fox, who is currently serving her sentence in the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, claimed her plea was a result of “coercion” and that she was not mentally competent to enter the plea because she had not been given her court-ordered medication.

“I was not advised as to the rights I was surrendering in pleading guilty. There were no factual basis to support plea,” she said in the motion.

Fox also said she was not advised of her sentence until a week after arriving at the state prison, at which point she thought she was at a mental health hospital.

McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt said he has taken Fox’s motion under advisement and will render a decision on Friday.

Lake and McHenry County Scanner is a local breaking news website covering issues that matter such as shootings, stabbings, house fires, kidnappings, car accidents, and more around Lake County and McHenry County.