Arin Fox, serving 55 years for killing Algonquin couple, now claims she was coerced into plea

A woman sentenced to 55 years in prison in December for stabbing an Algonquin couple to death claims that she was not competent and was coerced when she agreed to the plea deal, according to a handwritten affidavit filed in McHenry County court.

Arin Fox, 42, was charged with killing Noreen Gilard, 69, and Leonard Gilard, 73, the parents of the man she was dating at the time and with whom she was living.

Fox entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill in the murder of Noreen Gilard in October.

The couple were found dead from stab wounds Nov. 8, 2020, in separate bedrooms in their house. A long-blade butcher knife was found in a drying rack in the kitchen sink. Although the knife appeared to be washed, blood was found between the blade and the handle, Amy Bucci, a former detective with the Algonquin Police Department, said during the sentencing hearing.

Leonard Gilard was stabbed more than 50 times, Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley Romito said at the hearing.

In the affidavit, Fox, who is representing herself, asked for the judge to vacate her sentence and order a new trial. She claimed that she was not on her appropriate court-ordered medicines when she signed the plea agreement, and she thought she was going to be sentenced to 50 years in prison.

She also wrote that her trial attorney had quit her case before the plea deal and the new assistant public defender who represented her was “inadequate.”

Fox further asserted that when first transferred to the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, she thought she was at a mental health facility in Elgin, where she believed she would be serving her sentence.

Fox’s sanity had been questioned since her arrest days later in Colorado, where she fled in the couple’s vehicle. She had received treatment while in the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services. She was prescribed several medications for various mental health issues including psychosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, epilepsy and depression, she said in her affidavit.

However, she did not always take her medications as prescribed, according to court testimony. Multiple doctors have diagnosed Fox with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar depression and schizophrenia, according to court testimony.

Robert Meyer, a licensed clinical psychologist with The Mathers Clinic, completed a mental state evaluation of Fox on Oct 22, 2021, and found that Fox “meets the criteria for a plea of guilty but mentally ill.” She was deemed competent when she entered into the negotiated plea, according to court testimony.

Authorities said Fox killed the couple some time between Nov. 6 and 7 in 2020, according to court testimony. At the time, their son, Andrew Gilard, 42, was being held in the McHenry County jail, charged with aggravated battery and domestic battery, according to the indictment related to allegations that he pushed or struck his father and Fox.

Last month, Andrew Gilard pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and was sentenced to one year of probation, records show.

On Nov. 6, 2020, Algonquin police were called to the home for a domestic incident. However, no one was arrested, and a detective said Noreen Gilard reported that Fox had pushed her husband. Because their son had a court hearing the next day, the couple did not sign any complaints against Fox and wanted to “wrap it up quick,” Bucci said during the sentencing hearing.

That was the last time the couple was seen alive, she said.

Assistant State’s Attorney William Bruce said Fox filed her petition beyond the 30-day timeframe required and asked the judge to dismiss it.

Judge Mark Gerhardt is expected to rule on Fox’s petition March 15.