A Crystal Lake man has been sentenced to thirty-six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for attacking a woman with a hatchet and a hammer, leaving her seriously injured in what authorities called a “horrific” attack.
Mark Alex, 60, was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 18 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections during a sentencing hearing Thursday in front of McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt, officials from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
The sentencing hearing came after Alex was found guilty during a trial in April on two counts of attempted first-degree murder, a Class X felony, and two counts of aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony.
The incident started at around 3:30 p.m. on March 5, 2022, in the 1300 block of Skyridge Drive in Crystal Lake after the Crystal Lake Police Department received a 911 call for a person who reported to have been stabbed by her estranged husband.
Officers found the woman with multiple injuries to her head.
Officers performed medical treatment until the Crystal Lake Fire and Rescue Department arrived.
Paramedics rushed the woman to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in Huntley for further treatment.
Crystal Lake Deputy Police Chief Richard Neumann said at the time that the victim suffered significant injuries to her head, which were caused by a hatchet and hammer.
Prosecutors said Alex purchased a demolition hammer and a hatchet at Home Depot before arriving at the woman’s apartment.
The two were supposed to be meeting for a child custody exchange.
Prosecutors said Alex removed the packaging from both the hammer and the hatchet before entering the apartment.
Prosecutors said Alex attacked the woman less than 45 minutes later.
The woman was able to fight him off despite suffering numerous severe wounds. She was able to call 911 after Alex fled the apartment, prosecutors said.
The child who was at the residence at the time was uninjured, Neumann said.
After the attack, prosecutors said Alex donned a mask and stopped at a nearby Meijer to purchase over-the-counter medication and a new jacket.
He was eventually apprehended by officers of the Crystal Lake and Algonquin police departments approximately an hour later in Algonquin after his car was located in a nearby hotel parking lot.
A jury deliberated for only 53 minutes before returning a guilty verdict following the week-long trial.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese said in a news release that Assistant McHenry County State’s Attorney Ashley Romito asked for the maximum sentence of sixty years, thirty years on each Class X offense of Attempted Murder.
Due to the judge’s finding of severe bodily injury, Alex must serve each of the 18-year sentences consecutively, Freese said.
The defense attorney asked for the minimum sentence of twelve years in prison, Freese said.
Truth-in-Sentencing laws will require that Alex serve 85 percent of his sentence before being released from custody. Upon release, he will be subject to a Mandatory Supervised Release period of eighteen months, Freese said.
Freese said previously she commends the “strength the victim showed” in fighting off the suspect and for her courage to testify and recount the “horrific ordeal” to the jury.
“While the method of the attack was uncommonly brutal in this case, there was also a classic escalating cycle of violence that was readily identifiable as well. As a society, we recognize the need to stop this dangerous cycle from its inception,” Freese said.