Gary Kamen

**Gary Kamen** is an American former sales manager, stock trader, and murderer. He worked in the marketing business and stock exchange for 26 years before his arrest in 2018.

In September 2018, Kamen stabbed his wife, Karyn Rudy Kamen (née Rudy), after assaulting her and holding her hostage in their home for several hours before she died. He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. In July 2022, Kamen was sentenced to 65 years in prison for the murder.

## Biography

Gary A. Kamen was born in either 1962 or 1963. From 1983 to 1985, he attended Northeastern Illinois University, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Business and Finance.

In September 1992, Kamen was employed by Wolters Kluwer UK as a sales manager. He worked as a sales manager at various companies over the next 26 years. Kamen wrote several articles and gave multiple presentations regarding finance and marketing; some of his presentations are available on YouTube.

At some point, he married Karyn Rudy, born in either 1964 or 1965. She later attended Northeastern Illinois University from 1996 to 1999, possibly at his behest. Since 2013, Karyn worked as a substitute teacher. They had two children together; Joshua and Jacob, and the family lived in 1047 Peachtree Lane in Deerfield, Illinois.

According to his defense attorney, Kamen began suffering unspecified mental health issues in 2010.

## Murder of Karyn Kamen

On the morning of Friday, September 21, 2018, the couple's two children left for school. Sometime later, Gary ordered Karyn to their upstairs bedroom, where he handcuffed her and held her hostage for hours. He sexually assaulted Karyn and shoved an unspecified object into her vagina. He proceeded to stab her several times, resulting in a total of 15 stab wounds. Gary himself suffered two wounds to his face during or after the assault.

Afterwards, Gary drank a bottle of whiskey and downed several Ambien pills. He proceeded to write multiple suicide notes before blacking out. This suicide attempt failed, as he regained consciousness that afternoon. At 3:40 PM, he called the police, and they arrived to discover an unconscious Karyn, as well as the knife and the object she had been violated with. She was taken to Highland Park Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on the afternoon of September 22, 2018.

## Trial

Kamen was charged with five counts of first-degree murder; this was later decreased to two. He was initially held on a $10,000,000 bond, but this was revoked after prosecutors stated he posed "a real and present threat to the physical safety to members of his family". Kamen initially pleaded not guilty, but in June 2022, he changed his plea to guilty on one first-degree murder charge. On July 14, 2022, Kamen was sentenced to 65 years in prison. Judge Daniel Shanes commented: "Everyone loses. Your children, by your hand, lost their mother, and you lost."

## Citations

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyakamen
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=gary+kamen
3. ↑ https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/karyn-kamen-obituary?id=2795950
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/karyn-kamen-5a73a8169
5. ↑ https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/ct-lns-deerfield-homicide-mental-health-st-0503-story.html
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 https://abc7chicago.com/deerfield-stabbing-woman-killed-stabbed-gary-kamen/4362175/
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 https://www.arlingtoncardinal.com/2022/06/deerfield-resident-gary-kamen-pleads-guilty-to-first-degree-murder-of-his-wife/
8. ↑ https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/ct-lns-deerfield-homicide-arraign-st-1026-story.html
9. ↑ https://www.lakemchenryscanner.com/2022/07/14/your-children-by-your-hand-lost-their-mother-judge-sentences-deerfield-man-to-65-years-in-prison-for-killing-wife/