Man Pleads Guilty to Fatally Stabbing Wife

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Lake County State's Attorneys Office


OFFICE OF THE STATE'S ATTORNEY
LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS
ERIC F. RINEHART
STATE'S ATTORNEY

June 1, 2022

 

For Immediate Release
Contact: Steve Spagnolo
(224) 374-2376
sspagnolo@lakecountyil.gov

 

Gary Kamen

Gary Kamen


Man Pleads Guilty to Fatally Stabbing Wife


(Lake County, IL) On Wednesday, June 1, 2022, a Deerfield man pled guilty to one count of First-Degree Murder committed in a brutal and heinous manner.  

On September 21, 2018, Gary Kamen, 59, admitted to police that he held his wife hostage for several hours in their home and stabbed her.  

“This has been a long and difficult case for the victim’s family and friends. I want to thank the prosecutors, investigators, and victim-witness counselors who have been working on this case since the beginning. Our office will continue to focus on the brutal nature of this crime during sentencing,” said State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart. 

Kamen has been held in the Lake County Jail since he was arrested in September 2018. Originally, Kamen’s bond was set at $10 million. But after Assistant State’s Attorneys Lauren Kalcheim Rothenberg and Scott Hoffert argued he was a threat to the family, the court ordered that he be held without the ability to post bond.  

After the guilty plea today, defense attorney, James Schwarzbach, asked that his client be given a mental health evaluation as part of the pre-sentence investigation.  

A sentencing hearing is set to be on July 18, 2022. Kamen is facing at least 20 years in prison with a potential life sentence. Presiding Judge Daniel Shanes said that with this type of conviction, a person must serve 100% of the sentence imposed.  


Lake County State's Attorney's Office
18 N. County Street
Waukegan, IL 60085  
Phone: (847) 377-3000