Crystal Lake man accused of attempted murder using hammer, hatchet held without bond

A McHenry County judge noted the “clear and present threat” to a Crystal Lake woman attacked by her husband with a hammer and hatchet in ruling Monday he be held in jail without bond.

Mark Alex, 57, of Crystal Lake, is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated domestic battery and endangering the life of a child. Since his arrest, he had been held in the McHenry County Jail on $2 million bond.

Authorities allege that on March 5, Alex bought a hatchet and a hammer from a local home improvement store and about 2 p.m., went to the Crystal Lake apartment where his estranged wife and 2-year-old child were living.

The 36-year-old woman, who had filed for divorce from Alex in February 2021 and sought multiple orders of protection against him in recent months, allowed Alex to visit their child that afternoon.

At the time, there was no order of protection in place, according to documents filed in the McHenry County courthouse.

Alex had been living in a hotel in Algonquin, Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley Romito said reading from the petition for hearing on the denial of bail.

While at the woman’s apartment in the Skyridge Club apartment community, Alex had made sexual advances, which she rejected, causing an argument and Alex accusing the woman of infidelity. She left him and went into the bathroom and began cleaning.

Alex, the woman told Crystal Lake police, then turned on music very loudly on a Bluetooth speaker he had carried with him in a backpack. Neighbors heard the music and described it as “unusual,” Romito said.

The woman said Alex then came into the bathroom, armed with the hammer and hatchet, and said “I bought this for you” and “I’m going to kill you,” and attacked her as she pleaded for her life, Romito said.

At some point, the woman tried to “play dead” until he left and she called 911, according to the prosecution’s petition. As Alex left, she said, he “muttered” he was going to kill himself. She also said her young child was present and she believes he saw some of the attack, according to the petition.

The woman suffered 11 wounds to her head as well as other injuries to her stomach, arms and legs, Romito said. She was taken to the hospital but has since been released.

Alex was later located back in his hotel room where police found him ingesting over-the-counter pain medication he bought after leaving the apartment. He was treated at a local hospital and released to police. Hospital personnel recommended he be placed on suicide watch.

Romito noted the escalation of domestic violence, the woman’s fear “that he will post bond” and kill her, and Alex’s “erratic and escalating behavior” and history of mental illness, for which he has taken medication and had been treated at an inpatient facility in Barrington in October.

She also told the judge about multiple calls to Crystal Lake police over the past eight months made by the woman, Alex and a family member worried for the woman’s safety.

In one call, the woman reported domestic violence. In another call that Alex made, he said he “couldn’t take it anymore that she was divorcing him,” Romito said. He called police another time, in which police took custody of the child.

In November, the woman called police and said she allowed Alex to come and stay with her, believing he was homeless and sleeping in his truck.

Alex worked as a truck driver until quitting his job recently, according to court filings in the couple’s divorce.

According to petitions for orders of protection filed in McHenry County courthouse, at various dates Alex threatened to kill the woman, called her names in front of their child, took her credit cards, her child’s passport and Social Security card and stopped providing financial support. On one occasion, the woman wrote, Alex kicked her “several times” in front of their child, threw the contents out of her purse on the lawn, took away her vehicle, kept her child from her and told her not to return to the apartment.

In August, the woman wrote in a petition, Alex “verbally and physically” abuses her, “tries to control her” and “refuses to let me go and to give me my freedom.”

Romito said she has met with the woman who said she is greatly “fearful he will post bond.”

“[Alex] poses a real and present threat to the victim and himself,” Romito said in asking he be held without bond until his trial.

McHenry County Judge Robert Wilbrandt granted the state’s petition, agreeing that Alex has shown a recent “significant history” of domestic violence and is a threat to himself, the woman and their child.

Wilbrandt also appointed Assistant Public Defender Ryan Ahern as his lawyer and demanded a trial date be set within 90 days.

Ahern argued that Alex does not have any past criminal record, and said if Alex were to be let out of jail on bond, he would be restricted from contact with the woman and be placed on a monitoring device.

An arraignment date was set for March 25, a conference date for April 14 and a trial date for April 19.