South Elgin man was insane at time he stabbed mom to death, attorney argues

A South Elgin man who is accused of stabbing his mother to death was insane at the time, his attorney said Monday during opening arguments at his trial on first-degree murder charges.

At the time of the stabbing, Michal Wybraniec had stopped taking medications prescribed to treat bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorder, assistant public defender Brenda Willett said.

Wybraniec, 32, is accused of killing Beata Wybraniec, 53, on April 16, 2023, at her home on the 200 block of Thornwood Way.

Willett said Wybraniec should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. She said a psychologist who evaluated Wybraniec shortly after his arrest, and subsequent dates, will testify Wybraniec had delusions about Beata being an actor in the “deep state,” employed by a shadow government and abusing him, including on a mock reality television show. He also told the psychologist he was not sure that his brother and sister were really his siblings.

He had been hospitalized just a month before, after his mother called police to say he was being abusive. Willett said his mother tried to get him committed.

But prosecutor David Belshan said Wybraniec was aware of the criminality of his actions at the time.

Wybraniec, who lived with his mother, had run out of gasoline that morning. He asked his mother for $15 for body wash, according to a video recording of the police’s interview of Wybraniec. During that interview, Wybraniec said his mother tried to get him to take medication he did not want to take, and that “she wanted me to take some kind of (expletive) pills I didn’t want to take.” He said she was rude, yelling at him and tried to emasculate him, according to the video recording.

“He was so angry that morning that during an objectively minor argument, he grabbed a knife and plunged it into his mother 50 times,” Belshan said.

The attack started inside Beata’s townhouse. She ran outside and across a street, followed by Wybraniec. She fell, and he continued to stab her as she lay facedown on the ground, Belshan said.

A passerby who was driving a pickup truck testified he saw Wybraniec stab Beata in the back. He got out and yelled at Wybraniec to stop. But then Wybraniec started slicing the back of Beata’s neck, the man said, so he returned to his truck and hit Wybraniec with it.

Wybraniec chose to have a bench trial instead of a jury trial. Kane County Judge John Barsanti is hearing the case.

The trial resumes Tuesday morning.