A man accused of entering a west suburban home and stabbing a couple as they slept in 2015 has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Zachary Machnikowski, 22, of Naperville, was sentenced before Judge Liam Brennan following a two-day hearing that ended Thursday, according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.
Machnikowski pleaded guilty in 2018 to a count of attempted first-degree murder and a count of home invasion, prosecutors said in a statement. He has been held without bail since his first hearing on April 2, 2015.
On March 31, 2015, Machnikowski entered a home about 1:25 a.m. on Iroquois Avenue in Naperville, took a large knife from the kitchen, and went to an upstairs bedroom, prosecutors have said.
He attacked the couple as they slept in their bed, stabbing the husband first and then the wife, prosecutors said. The husband fought off the attack, and Machnikowski ran away.
Officers arrived to find the couple covered in blood in the living room, prosecutors said. Each had been stabbed in the face, head, hands and abdomen. They were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. Machnikowski was arrested within minutes.
“In the middle of the night, Zachary Machnikowski broke into an innocent couple’s home, armed himself with a large knife and attacked the homeowners while they slept,” State Attorney Robert Berlin said. “This was a senseless act of horrific violence which will forever have an impact on the victims and the community.”
Machnikowski is required to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
