Trial dates set in Ramirez double murder
By Holly Eaton For Chronicle Media — November 20, 2018
Jose Ramirez, 21, Princeville
Three months after allegedly murdering his adoptive parents, Jose G. Ramirez, 21, will stand trial on two charges of first-degree murder.
The trial for his accomplice, Matthew J. Roberts, 20, is slated to begin the same day, Jan. 22, 2019. He also is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, and both are being held in the Peoria County Jail on $3 million bond each.
Both face 20-60 years in prison for each count, if convicted, and stand the possibility of being handed consecutive sentences if convicted of murdering both people.
The two purportedly hid outside the Ramirez’s home at 22919 N. Maher Road, Princeville on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 25, and waited for his parents, Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez and Antonio Ramirez Barron, to fall asleep.
The couple were laid to rest Nov. 17 following a private wake and funeral.
Brill de Ramirez and Barron were last seen alive by co-workers at Bradley University Oct. 25, but their murders are thought have occurred between Oct. 26-28, when Ramirez called the Peoria County Sheriff’s office to report a possible home invasion.
It was immediately clear, Sheriff Brian Asbell said in an Oct. 29 press conference, that an act of violence had occurred.
According to Peoria County Sheriff’s Office, Ramirez admitted to killing his parents prior to the press conference, and it was believed, then, that Roberts simply let Ramirez take refuge in his home at 10 North St., Princeville that weekend.
Robert was initially charged with concealment of a homicidal death and obstruction of justice.
Susan Brill De Ramirez and Antonio Ramirez Barron, both 63,
Detectives discovered, after several interrogations, that Roberts participated in the murders. Police found credit cards and a television set in Roberts’ house that belonged to the murdered couple, along with keys to Ramirez Barron’s Honda CRV.
Allegedly, the two entered the home while the couple slept, crept into their bedroom and disabled both with pepper spray. They then beat them both with baseball bats before stabbing them both in the neck.
Ramirez and Roberts wrapped the bodies, one in a tarp and the other in a tent, loaded them into Ramirez Barron’s Honda, and dumped them in the Spoon River north of Peoria County, near Laura, according to police.
Their bodies were discovered by Peoria County Sheriff’s deputies Oct. 30, and it was determined the couple suffered numerous stab wounds, several those defensive, and that their skulls were crushed.
News of their murders came as a horrible blow to staff and students at Bradley University, where the couple were both employed. Brill de Ramirez was the Caterpillar Professor of English & Coordinator of Graduate Studies.
Her husband was the university’s technology support specialist. A tearful vigil was held on campus Nov. 1, on what would have been Ramirez Barron’s 64th birthday.
“The world has lost two great and very helpful souls this last week … two very talented individuals who had constantly been working to improve themselves and the institution they were members of for many years,” Associate Professor of English Seth Katz said at the vigil.
Prosecutors say that Ramirez had spoken of killing his parents on many occasions, and told detectives shortly after his confession that he was “sick of dealing with them.”
