Police say they have the man responsible… and a suspicious case from his past has investigators wondering if he’s done this before.

A Chicago eye doctor who was arrested in the stabbing death of his girlfriend is now having the mysterious death of his first wife reexamined by police.

Anthony Prate, age 55, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend on Nov. 23.

Malgorzata Daniel, 48 was stabbed 30 times in her home. Prate, who waited to call 911 until after calling three family members, told authorities that he and his girlfriend got into an argument following a dinner party with neighbors. Prate told the three family members that he had stabbed Daniel.

During the dinner party, Prate became upset when the subject of death arose, and he left the room for an extended period of time, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Gates at his arraignment.

Prate told the 911 operator, “My girlfriend and I had a fight. She stabbed me with a knife, and I stabbed her back, and I think she’s gravely wounded. I’m wounded too.”

Prate was taken into custody when police arrived and is being held without bond at the Cook County Jail. He was charged with first degree murder. Daniel was a nurse anesthetist and mother of two adult daughters.

The most recent incident has authorities looking back at another death, that of Prate’s first wife in 2011.

Prate claimed at that time that his wife, Bridget, was talking to another man and they were planning to kill him. Prate called police and demanded that both Bridget, as well as the man she was talking to, be arrested. When officers got to the scene, Bridget told them it was a misunderstanding and the officers left.

One week later, she was dead. She was killed in a car accident where Prate was the driver.

Prate told investigators at the time of the accident that Bridget had unbuckled her seatbelt to look for her purse and a water bottle, when he lost control of the vehicle, crossed over the center line, and hit and oncoming car and then a tree before stopping.

When emergency responders arrived, Prate was giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to Bridget. She didn’t have a pulse and she wasn’t breathing. Paramedics were unable to revive her.

At the time, investigators were concerned about some of the details of the crash. Aside from the previous call a week before, the autopsy that was performed on Bridget showed that her injuries were not consistent with a major collision, and told police he believed she “was dead prior to the time of the accident,” according to a police report. The exact cause of death was “undetermined.”

Even more odd, the airbag on Bridget’s side of the car did not deploy during the crash and Lake in the Hills Police, in the accident report, said there was “no damage to the car that would seem to be consistent with a fatal accident.”

Due to the concerns raised during the autopsy, authorities asked for a second opinion.

Noted pathologist Dr. Larry Blum was asked to take a second look. He concluded that even though there was no clear cause of death, as the original pathologist Dr. Mark Witeck had concluded, he believed the vertebra fracture was proof that she had indeed died in the crash. That conclusion led prosecutors to accept the findings and drop the case.

In 2014, Bruce Johnson, a private investigator and retired Illinois State Police master sergeant, was asked to investigate the case. Johnson referred the case to the Illinois State Police, who referred it back to Lake in the Hills without any charges being filed.

Johnson did state that he was puzzled by the lack of determinant cause in the accident.

“The lack of a cause of death in a case like this is pretty rare,” he said. He added that in fatal car crashes, typically “pathology and autopsy results usually determine the cause of death fairly quickly.”

Johnson was also puzzled that based on the force of the vehicles that Bridget’s body ended up on the floorboards. Johnson has investigated hundreds of death cases in his career.

Did you know that Law Enforcement Today has a private new home for those who support emergency responders and veterans? It’s called LET Unity, and it’s where we share the untold stories of those patriotic Americans. Every penny gets reinvested into giving these heroes a voice. Check it out today.

Over the years since the accident, multiple agencies have investigated the crash, and at one time also sought a grand jury subpoena to have family members testify. No criminal charges have ever been filed.

The most recent incident has caught the attention of both the McHenry County prosecutor’s office, as well as Lake in the Hills police. Both agencies announced that they would reopen the investigation into Bridget Prate’s death. In a joint statement, both agencies said that they “would continue to evaluate incoming information for any bearing it may have on the tragic death of Bridget Prate in 2011.”

At the time of the crash, William Hinde, the operator of the second vehicle, told officers he was traveling around 40 mph when the cars made contact. He said that Prate’s vehicle suddenly drove into his lane, and that he had no time to react and get out of the way. It happened in “a split second” Hinde told police.

In speaking with the Chicago Tribune last week, Hinde emphasized again how quickly it occurred.

“Usually you get a few seconds of notice, like this is going to happen, but there was none,” he said. “It was so immediate.”

Hinde noted that he has wondered about the crash over the years, and even more so after reading about the most recent arrest of Prate. He supports the effort of authorities to reinvestigate the 2011 accident.

“I don’t blame them, I would too. If he really did do this, the family needs closure.”

Want to make sure you never miss a story from Law Enforcement Today? With so much “stuff” happening in the world on social media, it’s easy for things to get lost.

Make sure you click “following” and then click “see first” so you don’t miss a thing! (See image below.) Thanks for being a part of the LET family!