911 call, body cam footage to be allowed in trial of Crystal Lake man accused of hatchet attack on wife

The recording of a 911 call, a text message and police body camera footage of a bloodied woman in her Crystal Lake apartment will be shown at the trial of her ex-husband accused of inflicting her wounds.

Mark Alex, 60, is charged with aggravated domestic battery, aggravated battery, child endangerment and the attempted murder of Wilma Alex, according to the indictment filed in the McHenry County court.

Wilma Alex – formerly Wilma Wenceslao Morales, who was 30 in 2014 when she met Mark Alex on a Philippine dating site – had filed for divorce a year prior to March 5, 2022. That afternoon, Mark Alex allegedly went to her apartment and attacked her with a hatchet and hammer, according to court documents.

Police said Mark Alex bought the tools from a local home improvement store earlier that day. He then went to the Crystal Lake apartment where his then-estranged wife and 2-year-old child were living.

Wilma Alex said she had filed multiple orders of protection against him in the months prior to the alleged attack. On the day of the alleged attack, there was no order of protection in place and she allowed Mark Alex to visit their child. When she rejected his advances and walked into the bathroom he came in and allegedly beat her in the head with the tools, Wilma Alex and authorities have said.

During a pretrial hearing last week, attorneys argued over what evidence would be allowed at Mark Alex’s trial. Judge Mark Gerhardt granted the state’s motion allowing in audio and video taken by a police body camera. The video shows the woman staggering and covered in blood as she opened the door for a police officer, she then slides down a wall inside her apartment and sits on the floor appearing dazed and in pain while paramedics tend to her. Her toddler son can be heard crying in the apartment.

As the video played in court last week, Mark Alex, who has been in custody at the county jail since being arrested that day at an Algonquin hotel, appeared to be wiping away tears from his face. A court security officer gave him a box of tissue.

Gerhardt also granted the state’s request to play the 911 call at trial, which also was played in court last week. During the call, Wilma Alex’s voice was weak and she was asking for help.

“My husband tried to kill me ... because I filed for divorce. I don’t want to be with him,” she is heard saying to the 911 operator.

As her toddler was heard crying in the background and saying “Mama,” Wilma Alex also told the 911 operator that Mark Alex “ran away” and that she thought she had been stabbed in the head with a knife. “Please, I need help. ... I’m gonna pass out.” Again, Mark Alex appeared to be crying in court as the 911 call was played.

A text message the woman sent to a friend, including a picture she took of herself after the alleged attack before calling 911, also will be admitted into trial, Gerhardt ruled. The question of whether evidence of alleged past domestic violence will be allowed has yet to be ruled on.

Wilma Alex previously shared with the Northwest Herald the story of her life with Mark Alex and the alleged domestic violence she said she had endured over the years.

In April 2014, Wilma met Mark Alex on Filipino Cupid. She said she was living with her parents in the Philippines at the time and working at their restaurant. Mark Alex, a Polish National who requires an interpreter in court, was a divorced, 51-year-old truck driver.

After proposing to her in Thailand, Wilma applied for a K1 fiancée visa and moved to the U.S. in September 2015. She married Mark Alex on Nov. 2, 2015.

The Northwest Herald does not typically name victims of domestic abuse. However, Wilma said she wanted to be named and to share the story of the alleged abuse against her to help other alleged victims of domestic violence. She wants them to know they are not alone and they can reach out for help and counseling.

Now 39 and divorced from Mark Alex as of Nov. 10, 2022, she said she still deals with bouts of anxiety and depression from what happened but “is now doing much better.”

“I can say I’m in a happy place now with my son and my boyfriend and his family,” she said. “I can really say that I have a family here. I have a lot of support from his family. In the beginning it was very, very hard. Now it seems like everything is all good. My son is in school and very happy and he is not having nightmares anymore. We are at peace.”

She only wishes the case was not still pending saying, “I just want to get this thing over now because it is too much.”