Deerfield man who held wife hostage, fatally stabbed her 15 times, denied bail

DEERFIELD, Ill. (WLS) -- A man accused of stabbing his wife to death while he held her hostage in their home in north suburban Deerfield was denied bail Friday, according to the State's Attorney's Office.

Gary Kamen, 55, faces two counts of first-degree murder. Police said he stabbed his wife, 53-year-old Karyn Kamen, Friday afternoon in the 1000-block of Peachtree Lane.

Kamen was initially being held on a $10 million bond, but a judge set a new bond hearing after prosecutors successfully argued that Kamen posed "a real and present threat to the physical safety to members of his family," according to court documents obtained by the Daily Herald, an ABC7 Eyewitness News partner.

The judge also ordered Kamen to hire an attorney or formally request a public defender.

According to those documents, officers found Karyn Kamen in an upstairs bedroom with 15 stab wounds. She was taken to Highland Park Hospital, where police said she died Saturday afternoon. An autopsy performed Monday morning confirmed she died of sharp force trauma.

Assistant Lake County State's Attorney Scott Hoffert said Gary Kamen held his wife hostage for several hours after their children left for school, handcuffed her and sexually assaulted her with an unidentified object, court documents said.

Kamen drank whiskey and took Ambien before blacking out, according to court documents. When he came to, he allegedly found his wife on the floor, covered in blood.

He called 911 and admitted to police that he killed his wife, court documents said. Officers recovered the knife, the object used in the sex assault and several suicide letters written by the suspect.

Gary Kamen is due back in court Oct. 18.