Gages Lake husband gets 33 years for murder

Stabbed wife in rage in 2007

Nadine Dean was fatally stabbed in a rage just yards from her Gages Lake home, said Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Britta Peffer.

On Friday, nearly three years later, husband John Dean was sentenced to 33 years in prison by Lake County Circuit Court Judge Christopher Stride. He killed his wife following an argument in February 2007.

Peffer said the couple had argued that day in February 2007, and Nadine, a nurse at Winchester House, got into her car and attempted to leave.

That's when police say John Dean began chasing her with a kitchen knife and stabbed her numerous times as she ran to the doorstep of a neighbor.

Afterward, Dean fled to Waukegan and was captured later that evening after being seen by a gas station attendant.

Domestic violence is no stranger to married couples, and it certainly was not to the Deans. The 59-year-old man had a history of disputes with his wife, Peffer said.

"Rage had been there since he married Nadine," she said.

She recommended that Dean be sentenced to 45 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Defense attorney Alex Rafferty acknowledged his client's occasionally rocky relationship with his wife, but he said Dean's mental health issues could not be ignored either.

Rafferty said Dean was honorably discharged from the military due to various psychological problems, which included him being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

"If he was able to control this rage, then he would not have been placed in psychiatric wards by doctors," Rafferty said, noting that Dean had been evaluated and treated in several states.

Rafferty requested that Dean not receive a long sentence in consideration of his mental, emotional and physical condition.

"Even 20 years is in effect a life sentence," he said.

Dean, dressed in a jail jumpsuit and shackled by the hands expressed regret for his actions.

"I'm sorry for what happened. I loved my wife Nadine," Dean told the court. "But this would not have happened if she never pulled a knife on me.

"I hope her mother and son are able to forgive me. If not, I understand their feelings," he continued.