Ex-Crystal Lake man on trial for hatchet attack on wife, but lawyer says he wasn’t trying to kill her

The state has rested its case in the trial for a man accused of trying to kill his wife when he repeatedly struck her with a hammer and hatchet in her Crystal Lake apartment.

Mark Alex, 60, is charged with attempted murder, a Class X felony; aggravated domestic battery; child endangerment and other offenses.

McHenry County prosecutors argued that on March 5, 2022, Mark Alex intended to kill his wife, Wilma Alex, 39. Wilma who met Mark Alex, a truck driver, on a Philippine dating site in 2014 and married him in 2015, had filed for divorce months prior.

Though the couple were separated, and Wilma Alex had taken out previous orders of protection against her husband, she’d agreed to spend the day with him and with their toddler son. They’d planned he would then go home to Mundelein and they would meet the next day for church, she testified.

From the witness stand this week, she tearfully described what she thought, at first, was a “happy” visit. She made his favorite Philippine dish and they were dancing to music together with their 2-year-old son.

But prosecutors described a more sinister plan they say Mark Alex had for the day. Shortly before arriving at her apartment, he’d stopped at a nearby hardware store and bought the hammer and hatchet, they said, and brought the tools into her home in a backpack. About an hour after arriving, he repeatedly struck her in the head trying to kill her.

In opening arguments Tuesday, Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley Romito said Mark Alex had “an all too common, timeless motive. ... She was divorcing him.“

Wilma Alex testified Mark Alex attacked her after she rejected his sexual advances and would not give him her phone or let him take their child home with him because he was drinking alcohol.

She said she went into the bathroom and he followed her, locked the door and told her: “I got this for you because I love you” as he held the hammer above her and began hitting her with it. During the attack he made comments such as, “It’s the perfect size,” and “You are lucky I didn’t bring the big one,” Wilma Alex testified.

As she fought back, the attack continued into the living room with a hatchet Mark Alex grabbed from the backpack after the hammer got caught in Wilma’s hair, she said. Before leaving he told Wilma Alex he was going to kill himself, according to trial testimony.

He left her bleeding in the apartment with their son crying, and Wilma Alex said she made sure he was gone before calling 911. Jurors heard the call this week in which Wilma softly says her husband tried to kill her, to please send help and to hurry and she was passing out. Her son could be heard crying in the background. She sent a message to a friend with a picture of her bloodied face that said, “I need help. Mark tried to kill me.” Jurors also saw video of the police arriving and Wilma Alex bloodied on the floor, leaning against a wall.

A nurse from Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital testified there was so much blood in her long thick hair it was difficult to see how many wounds she had on her head. As she tried to take Wilma Alex to wash her hair she had what the nurse believed was a complex partial seizure.

Shortly after leaving the apartment, Mark Alex was seen on surveillance video at Meijer in Algonquin. On the video, played for jurors, he is seen buying Tylenol, Motrin, a bottle of vodka an a coat. He was found later that day at a hotel in Algonquin and was arrested. It appeared from what police recovered Mark Alex took some pills and drank a half bottle of vodka, according to trial testimony.

But Mark Alex’s defense attorney, Dan Hofmann, argued that his client is only guilty of aggravated domestic battery, a lesser felony that carries a prison term of three to seven years. Hofmann sought to minimize her injuries and the incident.

During his argument for a directed verdict, which was denied, Hofmann said the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt Mark Alex “intended” to kill his wife or that he had “knowledge she was going to sustain great bodily harm.” Intent and knowledge must be proven in order to be found guilty of attempted murder.

“They had a fight that continued until they decided to stop,” Hofmann said in describing the interaction.

Hofmann said Mark Alex did not mean to strike his wife and definitely did not intend to kill her. The lawyer referred to an incident in July 2021, when police were called to the apartment for a domestic dispute. During that visit, Wilma Alex said Mark Alex kicked her in the abdomen and said he was going to kill her and himself. She had already filed for divorce by this point.

However, Hofmann said Mark Alex denied saying that and there is no video or audio proof he said it. Additionally, police said they did not see any bruises on her body and her statement was not written in the incident report.

If the jury finds Mark Alex guilty of the Class X felony, he could be sentenced up to 30 years on that charge alone.