South Elgin man not guilty by reason of insanity of murdering his mother

A South Elgin man who stabbed his mother to death in 2023 has been found not guilty by reason of insanity of first-degree murder.

Kane County Judge John Barsanti ruled that Michal Wybraniec was insane on April 16, 2023, when he stabbed his mother, Beata Wybraniec, 50 times inside and outside of the South Elgin home they shared.

Under state law, Wybraniec could not appreciate the criminality of his actions because he was insane.

Wybraniec, 32, had been diagnosed in 2017 with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and schizo-affective disorder. The month before the killing, he had been hospitalized for several weeks. But he stopped taking medication prescribed to treat his illnesses, his attorney said during opening and closing arguments.

Prosecutors had asked during closing arguments that, at a minimum, he should be found guilty but mentally ill. They said he stabbed his mother because she refused a request for money, told him to take his medications, and told him to stop using illicit drugs.

Wybraniec had said during a police interview that his mother was rude, tried to emasculate him, and yelled at him. He told police that his mother tried to get him to take medication he did not want to take.

But a forensic psychiatrist for the prosecution said he was not insane at the time of the stabbing.

The attack started inside Beata’s townhouse. When she ran outside, Wybraniec chased her to the parkway and continued to stab her.

A passerby who was driving a pickup truck testified that he saw Wybraniec stabbing Beata. The man said he stopped the attack by hitting Wybraniec with his pickup truck.

On Friday, Barsanti ordered that Wybraniec be sent to a state mental health hospital for an evaluation and treatment plan.