Deerfield Man Sentenced To 65 Years For Killing Wife

DEERFIELD, IL — A Deerfield man was sentenced to 65 years in prison Thursday for fatally stabbing his wife nearly four years ago. Gary Kamen, 59, pleaded guilty last month to one count of first-degree murder with the sentencing enhancement that the offense was committed in a “brutal and heinous manner.”

According to the Lake County State's Attorney's Office, Kamen will serve 100 percent of the sentence.

In accepting the agreement, Judge Daniel Shanes told Kamen that he found this sentence to be appropriate in light of the cold-blooded nature of the crime.

“In days like this, in court, there are no winners. Everyone loses. Your children, by your hand, lost their mother, and you lost,” Shanes said, according to a news release.

In September 2018, Kamen admitted to police that he held his wife hostage for several hours in their home and stabbed her.

Karyn Kamen, a substitute teacher in Deerfield District 109 schools, died at Highland Park Hospital the day after the attack on Sept. 21, 2018, as a result of multiple knife wounds following surgical attempts to save her life. At the time, prosecutors said Kamen, who was, until around the time of the murder, a market strategist for his own financial services company, was read his Miranda rights before admitting to handcuffing his wife and holding her hostage while armed with a knife.

According to court filings, Kamen said he sexually assaulted his wife after their children left to go to school for the day. He told investigators he then blacked out after drinking whiskey and taking Ambien. After awakening to find his wife covered in blood, Kamen called the police around 3:40 p.m. to report he had fatally stabbed his wife. Investigators believe he stabbed her 15 times.

“The sentence in this case accounts for the heinous nature of the crime. The community remained safe from Mr. Kamen while he remained in custody for nearly four years, and we know the family has some relief that this part of their journey is finally over,” State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said Thursday. “We will continue to support them in any way that we can,” he added.

Kamen has been held in the Lake County Jail since he was arrested in 2018. He will be transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections to serve his sentence.

Originally, Kamen’s bond was set at $10 million, but after prosecutors argued he was a threat to the family, the court ordered that Kamen be held without being afforded the opportunity to use cash or property for bond.

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