Woman charged in Algonquin double homicide found unfit to stand trial
A 40-year-old woman who last year was charged with stabbing a couple to death in their Algonquin home has been found mentally unfit to stand trial.
A psychological evaluation showed that Arin M. Fox, charged in the November 2020 deaths of 69-year-old Noreen S. Gilard and 73-year-old Leonard J. Gilard Jr., is experiencing mental health symptoms that have rendered her incapable of assisting with her own defense, records show.
Fox will be moved to the Illinois Department of Human Services, where she will receive treatment at an inpatient facility, according to an Oct. 20 court order.
In Illinois, charges can be reinstated against a person who is found unfit to stand trial if their condition is enough improved by a certain period of time.
"The parties stipulate that Dr. (Betsy) Lohr would testify (Fox) may be restored to fitness within 60 days with inpatient psychiatric medication and psychoeducational services," the Oct. 20 court order stated.
The finding is not the same as a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty but mentally ill.
Fox's next court appearance originally wasn't scheduled to take place until Nov. 3. A report summarizing her evaluation was completed on Oct. 11, however, and Fox's public defender Ryan Ahern filed a motion to have the matter heard sooner.
Police arrested Fox in November 2020 in Douglas County, Colorado, where investigators said she fled in the Gilards' Buick after the double homicide. Fox was extradited in February back to the McHenry County jail on charges of first-degree murder, possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated battery and domestic battery.
According to charging documents, Fox is accused of killing the Gilards on Nov. 6 or 7 at their home on the 600 block of Red Coach Lane in Algonquin. Fox also lived at the residence.
Officers found the couple's bodies during a well-being check, but by that time Fox already had fled in the Gilards' Buick to Colorado, police have said.
She was receiving psychiatric treatment at least two months before her arrest, prosecutors said.
Convictions of first-degree murder in relation to the deaths of both Noreen and Leonard Gilard could result in a natural-life prison sentence.
On Wednesday, prosecutors and Fox's public defender agreed that if forensic psychologist Lohr were called as a witness, she would testify that Fox has a long history of mental illness and "medication non-compliance," according to the court order.
Fox, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, is "noncompliant with medication" and experiencing "active psychosis," according to the court order.
Lohr also would have testified that Fox hears voices that tell her what she is thinking, and that sometimes they are "annoying" and "rude," records show.