Algonquin stabbing suspect is discharged Marine

A 20-year-old former Marine charged in stabbing his ex-girlfriend in the back with a bayonet at Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee Wednesday night told a judge Thursday he was discharged from the service because he had suicidal thoughts.

William R. Clark III, 20, of Algonquin appeared before Kane County Judge Bruce W. Lester via closed-circuit TV Thursday morning and could barely look at a TV monitor that showed his parents crying in the courtroom as they watched the proceedings.

"I'm sorry," Clark told his parents.

His ex-girlfriend was taken to Sherman Hospital for surgery and she was listed in fair condition Thursday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Clark said he was in the Marine Corps from January through October 2008 and was training in San Diego to become a military police officer.

The Marines verified his term of service and their records show that Clark, ranked as a private, won awards during his brief tenure, including a sharpshooter badge and a national defense service medal.

But Clark was discharged because he had suicidal thoughts and wanted to "hurt myself," he said. He told Lester that he is now unemployed, but was looking into finding a job or going back to school.

"I thought I needed help after the Marine Corps that I should have gotten," Clark said, adding that he is not on any prescription medicine and that he stole the bayonet from his father.

Lester set bond at $650,000 Thursday morning.

Clark, of the 1400 block of Winaki Trail, faces charges of armed violence, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated domestic battery in connection with the crime.

"It was a domestic-related situation," Police Chief Dave Sawyer said. "One didn't want to be with the other one."

Police said that at 8:30 p.m., a half-hour before the mall was due to close, Clark entered the Bath & Body Works store where his 21-year-old ex-girlfriend was working.

Clark forced the woman into a men's bathroom in the store, pulled out a 7-inch military issued bayonet and stabbed her once in the center of her back, Sawyer said.

They both left the bathroom, and the Carpentersville woman told her co-workers she had been stabbed. At that point, an employee at a neighboring store who had heard the commotion told Clark to stay where he was. He obeyed, Sawyer said.

Security guards took over from there, handcuffed Clark and detained him until police showed up.

"He was very cooperative once we arrived and didn't struggle with any of the other people involved," Sawyer said.

Clark's next court date is April 15 at the Kane County Judicial Center.

If found guilty of the more serious charges he could spend between six and 30 years behind bars.

Spring Hill Mall remains open.

"This is an isolated incident," Sawyer said. "It was apparent to us ... that he went to the mall to look for her. Nobody else was in danger."

• Daily Herald staff writer Larissa Chinwah contributed to this report.