Man Accused Of Stabbing In-Laws Had 2 Days To Report To Jail: Judge

CRETE, IL — A Wisconsin man who faces multiple charges, including attempted murder, after police said he shot at and then stabbed his in-laws, reportedly committed the attack during a two-day period a judge in Wisconsin had given him before reporting to jail.

Michael Liu, Oak Creek, Wis., was arrested this week following the incident last week in unincorporated Crete when police said he stabbed his in-laws repeatedly out of revenge in a "heinous attack" ahead of a pending divorce from his wife, police said.

But Liu was scheduled to report to jail in Wisconsin to serve a four-month term for a domestic battery conviction this week, prosecutors said. According to media reports, Liu was scheduled to report to jail on Dec. 2 after he was sentenced to the four-month term by Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorrow.

Dorrow, who is running for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, sentenced Lui on Nov. 30 and gave him two days to report to jail, TMJ4 in Wisconsin reported. But on Dec. 1, police said that Liu showed up at the Will County residence of his in-laws and fired shots at them from outside their home.

He did not hit the couple, both in their 60s, but police said that he then broke into their home and planned to shoot them again, but his gun malfunctioned, police said. He then attacked his mother-in-law with a knife and then stabbed his father-in-law, who eventually wrestled the knife away from Liu, according to police.

All three people were taken to a local hospital with stab wounds. Liu was taken into custody after being released from the hospital. One of his two victims was released from hospital care this week, and the other remains in stable condition.

Dorrow sentenced Liu to four months in jail with work release and probation, the Wisconsin television station reported. Court records said that Liu was given two days to report to jail during which time he carried out the attack, according to police.

Dorrow has come under fire for releasing Liu for the two-day period. According to reports, Liu was allowed to remove an electronic monitoring device during the two days he had before he was scheduled to report back to the Wisconsin jail.

Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper told Patch in an email that Liu was on GPS monitoring as a condition of his bond. Liu is now being held without bond in Will County on the charges stemming from the incident last week.

“First off, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims for a speedy and full recovery,” Dorrow said in a statement released by her campaign. “In this case, I sentenced Mr. Liu to jail despite it being his first offense. It's unfortunate he did not report to jail as ordered and instead went to Illinois."