Crime & Safety
Second Man Charged With Murder In Professor, Husband's Death
20-year-old Matthew Roberts of Princeville has been charged in deaths of Susan Brill de Ramirez and Antonio Ramirez Barron, Sheriff said.
PEORIA, IL — Peoria County Sheriff Brian Asbell announced Wednesday that the second man involved in the deaths of a Bradley University professor and her husband has been charged with first-degree murder. According to Asbell, the investigation into the murders determined 20-year-old Matthew Roberts (pictured below, right) was involved in the murders of Susan Brill de Ramirez and Antonio Ramirez Barron, both 63, whose bodies were found Tuesday near Annawan, resting against the riverbank, Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said.
Asbell announced the news just a few hours before Roberts was headed to court Wednesday for a bond hearing, where according to Peoria County Court documents, he was charged with two counts of felony first degree murder.
Court records show a preliminary hearing for Roberts is set for 1 p.m., Nov. 29.
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Jose Ramirez, the 21-year-old son of Susan and Antonio, was arrested and charged with first degree murder on Monday after confessing to killing his parents, Peoria County Sheriff Brian Asbell said. Ramirez has been appointed a public defender and is being held on a $3 million bond. His arraignment is also scheduled for Nov. 29.
Peoria County Assistant State's Attorney Dave Kenny said during a bond hearing Tuesday that Ramirez told friends he was "sick of his parents" and that he had killed them on Friday.
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Ramirez waited until his parents were sleeping then went into their bedroom at their Princeville home, Kenny said, using pepper spray as a distraction before he stabbed his father in the stomach and neck, then stabbed his mother when she woke up, Kenny said.
Peoria County sheriff's deputies found blood and signs of a struggle in the family home Sunday after a call from a concerned relative, Asbell said.
The couple last reported to work 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.
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