Woman with history of mental illness sentenced to 55 years in prison for fatally stabbing Algonquin couple

A woman was sentenced to 55 years in prison Wednesday for fatally stabbing an elderly Algonquin couple with whom she lived in 2020.

Although Arin Fox was charged with killing Noreen S. Gilard, 69, and Leonard J. Gilard, 73, the parents of the man she was dating at the time, Fox entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill in the murder of Noreen Gilard.

Fox faced between 40 and 60 years in prison. She is required to serve 100% of her sentence and will receive credit for 1,122 days spent in the county jail.

Fox, 42, lived with the couple as their caretaker during the time their son, Andrew Gilard, was in McHenry County jail.

On Nov. 8, 2020, the couple was found stabbed to death in separate bedrooms in their house. A long-blade butcher knife was found in a drying rack in the kitchen sink. Although the knife appeared to be washed, blood was found between the blade and the handle, Amy Bucci, a former detective with the Algonquin Police Department, said during the sentencing hearing Wednesday.

Leonard Gilard was stabbed more than 50 times, Assistant State's Attorney Ashley Romito said.

A notebook was found in the kitchen with writing from Fox that suggested she was looking for another place to live. The notes also included statements such as, "I hope my stupid grandparents die."

Bucci said the writings appeared to be "very angry."

On Nov. 6, Algonquin police were called to the home for a domestic incident. Although no one was arrested, Bucci said Noreen Gilard reported to the police that Fox had pushed her husband.

Because their son had a court hearing the next day, Bucci said, the couple did not sign any complaints against Fox and wanted to "wrap it up quick," and police left.

That was the last time the couple was seen alive, Bucci said.

Police have said the couple was killed between Nov. 6 and 7.

After killing the couple, Fox fled in their vehicle to Colorado, where she tried to visit her young child, who was living with her ex-boyfriend, Bucci said.

The ex-boyfriend said Fox smelled of alcohol but was coherent. They argued, and he told her he was going to call police, and she left and checked herself into a behavioral health hospital. She told a nurse there she had anxiety and homicidal ideations, authorities said.

When the nurse asked whether she had acted on those ideations, she said yes, noting that she used a knife and gave the nurse the couple's names and address, Bucci said.

She also told the nurse she was experiencing auditory commands and hallucinations.

A well-being check Nov. 8 led to the discovery of the bodies.

Fox pleaded guilty to one count of murder in October and in exchange, three additional counts of murder were dismissed, as were charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated battery and domestic battery.

About five months before the killings, charges alleging Fox threw a knife at the husband had been dismissed, Bucci said.

During the time Fox lived with the couple, a mutual friend said Noreen thought Fox hated her and was trying to poison her, Bucci said.

Dr. Robert Meyer, a licensed clinical psychologist with the Mathers Clinic, also testified Wednesday and detailed Fox's long history of mental illness, which he said began when she was an adolescent.

Meyer said in the year leading up to the killings, Fox experienced a series of "traumatic events."

She had been released from a facility in which she was being treated for mental illness, and she had undergone electroconvulsive therapy. She was taking almost 10 medications, including four for depression and four antipsychotic drugs.

He said she never should have been released from the facility and needed to be in a structured environment during this time and not caring for an elderly couple.

Meyer said Fox was "very heavily medicated" and that "few people are on that boatload of medications at one time."

Fox then abruptly stopped taking the medications when she became pregnant. She later terminated that pregnancy, according to testimony.

During this time, she suffered postpartum depression, her stepsister died, her father and brother stopped talking to her, and it was the start of the pandemic. Her boyfriend was in jail, and she was put in charge of caring for his elderly parents, Meyer said.

This series of events led to a psychotic break in which she deteriorated mentally, felt rage and hopelessness and was frustrated, said Meyer adding that Fox was hearing voices telling her to hurt herself and others.

"This time she gave in to that impulse," Meyer said.

The doctor said Fox had been "beyond her ability to cope," and had she complied with her medication and had proper supervision, "we would not be in this."

Fox's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Kyle Kunz, agreed Fox committed a "brutal and heinous" crime.

However, Kunz said, she was off her medications and experiencing a mental break, needed structure and never should have been left to care for an elderly couple. He asked for a 40-year prison term. He also asked that she receive treatment for her mental illness while in prison.