2 bodies of a college professor and her husband have been recovered from a river in central Illinois. Their 21-year-old son, who said he was “sick of his parents” according to authorities and stabbed them to death, has been charged with first-degree murder.
The bodies of Susan Brill de Ramirez and Antonio Ramirez Barron, both 63, were found Tuesday in the Spoon River near Annawan, resting against the riverbank, Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said.
Judge Sean Donahue scheduled his arraignment for November 29. Peoria County Assistant State’s Attorney Dave Kenny said during a bond hearing on Tuesday that Ramirez told friends he was “sick of his parents” and that he had killed them on Friday.
Ramirez waited for his parents to fall asleep then he went to their bedroom, he used pepper spray as a distraction and stabbed his father in the stomach and neck then stabbed his mother after she had woken up.
He then wrapped the bodies in a tarp and tent, put them in his father’s car and drove 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the Henry County community of Annawan. He then dumped them off a bridge into a waterway, authorities said.
Peoria County sheriff’s deputies found blood and signs that indicate there was a struggle in the family home Sunday after a call from a concerned relative, Asbell said.
The couple were last at work on Thursday at Bradley University in Peoria, where Brill de Ramirez was an English professor and Ramirez Barron worked in the school’s information technology department.
Matthew Roberts, another suspect, is now also charged with first-degree murder. Roberts had faced obstruction of justice and concealment of a homicidal death charges, but authorities said those were dropped in favor of murder charges after they determined he played an active role in the murders.
A judge ordered Roberts, of Princeville, held on a $3 million bond on Wednesday. Roberts requested a public defender, which the judge granted because of his lack of income.
AP
