Woman charged in Algonquin double homicide to appear in Colorado court Thursday

A court hearing Thursday in Douglas County, Colorado, could provide details about the extradition of an Algonquin woman charged with stabbing and killing her boyfriend’s elderly parents.

Arin M. Fox, 39, remained on Wednesday afternoon at the Douglas County Jail in Colorado, where she was being held as a fugitive from justice. She is scheduled for a hearing at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, at which point she can choose whether to waive her right to an extradition hearing, McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally said.

Should Fox choose to waive extradition, she could arrive back in McHenry County sometime early next week, Kenneally said.

“If she does not wave extradition, we’ll have to get a governor’s warrant,” Kenneally said.

Fox, of Algonquin, is charged with first-degree murder, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, aggravated battery and domestic battery in connection with the deaths of 69-year-old Noreen S. Gilard and 73-year-old Leonard J. Gilard Jr.

Autopsies for the Gilards were scheduled for Tuesday. The McHenry County Coroner’s Office could not be reached Wednesday to comment on a possible cause of death for either Noreen or Leonard Gilard.

Algonquin police discovered the Gilards’ bodies Sunday during a well-being check at the couple’s 635 Red Coach Lane home, officials have said. By that time, Fox already had fled in the Gilards’ Buick and arrived in Colorado, police said.

The couple’s adult son, Andrew Gilard, was in custody at the McHenry County Jail at the time his parents’ death and is not considered a suspect, Algonquin police have said.

Fox was receiving psychiatric treatment at least two months before she would be charged in the double homicide, Kenneally said.

The woman was arrested in October 2019 after her boyfriend called the police and reported that Fox threw a butcher’s knife at now-deceased Gilard Jr., court records show. Fox had been using the knife to chop vegetables when she allegedly threw it in Gilard Jr.’s direction, Kenneally said. The knife never struck Gilard Jr.

Fox was charged with a misdemeanor count of aggravated battery, but the case was dismissed in September. Gilard Jr. never provided a written statement or communicated with the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, despite multiple attempts by prosecutors, Kenneally said.

“All parties indicated that Ms. Fox was suffering from psychological problems at the time and was not taking her prescribed medication,” Kenneally said in a statement that he emailed Tuesday afternoon.

Following Fox’s 2019 arrest, Gilard Jr. did not respond to multiple written notices of court dates and proceedings, Kenneally said.

“The decision was made to dismiss the case in view of the fact that the knife did not strike Mr. Gilard, there were no injuries, and upon verification that Ms. Fox was receiving ongoing psychiatric treatment,” he said.

Because the charge was a misdemeanor, Fox would have faced less than one year in the county jail, probation, or conditional discharge if she had been convicted.

Her most recent conviction in McHenry County was for a 2011 felony aggravated battery charge that ultimately resulted in eight months of conditional discharge, records show. She also was required to receive mental health treatment as a condition of her sentence.