Man Stabbed In-Laws In 'Heinous Attack' Over Divorce: Will Co Sheriff

CRETE, IL — A 36-year-old Wisconsin man was due in court on Wednesday after he was arrested in connection with an attack on his in-laws in Will County in what police say was an attack motivated by revenge over his upcoming divorce.

Michael Y. Liu, of Oak Creek, was taken into custody after police said he went to his in-laws’ home in unincorporated Crete and shot at them, and then stabbed them multiple times.

Police were called to the Shady Grove Court home at 6:41 p.m. on Dec. 1, after Liu planned to attack the couple, officials said. Officers found a 66-year-old woman and her 68-year-old husband bleeding profusely inside the home with stab wounds, the Will County Sheriff’s Office announced on Tuesday.

Police said they also found Liu bleeding heavily, and he was also taken to the hospital along in critical condition. Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley said in a news release that had it not been for the actions of deputies who responded to the home, all three people could have died.

Lui had been scheduled to turn himself in to police in Wisconsin on Sunday for a domestic battery conviction from July, as well as a complaint for violating an order of protection. Instead, police said he went to his in-laws' home "in an attempt to exact revenge."

Investigators said Liu parked up the street from the home and then fired several shots at the couple while they sat inside their home, according to the criminal complaint said. Liu’s shots did not hit the couple, and police said that he then broke into the home by smashing a glass door.

Liu then fired several shots once inside the home, police said, but his gun malfunctioned.

Police said Liu’s father-in-law was stabbed several times after he came to the defense of his wife. The man was able to wrestle the knife away from Liu, police said, but was stabbed in the process. The woman was recently released from the hospital and her husband remains in stable condition.

Police said Liu was arrested after being released from a Chicago hospital on Tuesday. A bench warrant had previously been issued for Liu stemming from his previous conviction. He is being held on no bond for two counts of attempted murder and five counts of home invasion. He is also charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm, residential burglary, aggravated battery, aggravated domestic battery and criminal trespass to a residence.

“My heart goes out to the victims in this senseless, heinous attack. It was clear what the offender’s intentions were, the minute he left the state of Wisconsin,” Kelley said in a news release. “ I want to thank the Will County Sheriff’s Office personnel that responded to the scene, the deputies that assisted in guarding Mr. Liu inside the hospital, and the detectives and CSI personnel that put all the pieces together in order to make this quick arrest. It was fine work done by everyone.”