Prosecutors: Suburban optometrist stabbed girlfriend ‘between 20 and 30 times’

An optometrist from the northwest suburbs allegedly stabbed his girlfriend 20 to 30 times in a deadly argument that followed a dinner party on a Schaumburg cul de sac, Cook County prosecutors said Monday.

Before Friday’s stabbing, Malgorzata “Margaret” Daniel, 48, and her boyfriend of several months, Dr. Anthony Prate, had neighbors over at Daniel’s home in the 300 block of Arbor Glen Boulevard, court records show.

During dinner, the topic of death arose, seemingly upsetting Prate, 55, who left the table for a “noticeable amount of time,” prosecutors said. Prate returned but appeared agitated.

As the guests were leaving around midnight, Daniel apologized for Prate’s behavior, prompting Prate to say Daniel did not need to apologize for him, prosecutors said. About a half hour later, Prate called 911, and in an “extremely flat” voice, told the operator that Daniel was “gravely injured,” prosecutors said.

Prate, of Algonquin, also allegedly told the operator that he and Daniel had been fighting with a knife.

When police arrived, Daniel was found lying on the kitchen floor with a knife in her right hand. She was not breathing.

An autopsy revealed Daniel was stabbed three times in her chest and seven times on her back. She also had two deep cuts to her stomach and “defensive wounds” on her hands and forearms.

Detectives learned that roughly 20 minutes before he called authorities, Prate had made calls to three family members, in which he mentioned stabbing Daniel.

Prate was ordered held without bail during a court hearing in Rolling Meadows.

In 2011, Prate’s wife, Bridget, was killed in a car crash in Lake of the Hills, according to news reports. Prate had been driving.