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LINCOLN, Ill (KTVI - FOX2now.com) -
The sheriff in Logan County, Illinois says they have their men in the brutal slayings in Beason, Illinois last month. After yesterday's arrest of the brother of a man already in custody, Sheriff Steve Nichols says the case is essentially solved.
"We feel confident that we have the people in custody who committed this act," he says.
Charges were announced Thursday night against Jason Harris, 23, of Armington, Illinois. He joins his older brother, Christopher, 30, who was arrested a week earlier. Both are charged with five counts of murder and one of attempted murder in the bludgeoning of Rick Gee, his wife, Ruth Ann, and three children.
Christopher Harris is the ex-son in law of Rick Gee, one of the dead. Harris, and Nicole Gee were divorced in 2007 on grounds of mental cruelty, but had reconciled and had a child together this year. Nicole Gee has written on her MySpace account that she doesn't believe Chris Harris killed her family.
Two of the three children killed were Ruth Ann Gee's from prior relationships. The father of one of the murdered kids, fourteen year old Dillen Constant, is Gerald Miller. He says he's glad police have an idea who committed the murders, but he still wants to know why.
"I'm just waiting for motive," he says. "I just want to know what this was all about. I don't know. I'm just beat up about it. I've been over thinking it, ya know. I don't know."
For the town of Beason, the announcement that the case is apparently solved ends three weeks of worry about killers on the loose. But Friday Sheriff Nichols made a statement that would seem to indicate his warnings about locking doors in the town weren't necessary. He says he believed the Gees were the specific target all along.
"Very early in this investigation we believed the Gee family knew their killers. We did not believe this was a random act. We are confident we now have those responsible for the murders in custody."
The Harris brothers are being held in separate Illinois jails, both without bond. Meanwhile Jason Harris' girlfriend and her mother are both facing obstruction of justice charges for trying to provide a false alibi.
"We feel confident that we have the people in custody who committed this act," he says.
Charges were announced Thursday night against Jason Harris, 23, of Armington, Illinois. He joins his older brother, Christopher, 30, who was arrested a week earlier. Both are charged with five counts of murder and one of attempted murder in the bludgeoning of Rick Gee, his wife, Ruth Ann, and three children.
Christopher Harris is the ex-son in law of Rick Gee, one of the dead. Harris, and Nicole Gee were divorced in 2007 on grounds of mental cruelty, but had reconciled and had a child together this year. Nicole Gee has written on her MySpace account that she doesn't believe Chris Harris killed her family.
Two of the three children killed were Ruth Ann Gee's from prior relationships. The father of one of the murdered kids, fourteen year old Dillen Constant, is Gerald Miller. He says he's glad police have an idea who committed the murders, but he still wants to know why.
"I'm just waiting for motive," he says. "I just want to know what this was all about. I don't know. I'm just beat up about it. I've been over thinking it, ya know. I don't know."
For the town of Beason, the announcement that the case is apparently solved ends three weeks of worry about killers on the loose. But Friday Sheriff Nichols made a statement that would seem to indicate his warnings about locking doors in the town weren't necessary. He says he believed the Gees were the specific target all along.
"Very early in this investigation we believed the Gee family knew their killers. We did not believe this was a random act. We are confident we now have those responsible for the murders in custody."
The Harris brothers are being held in separate Illinois jails, both without bond. Meanwhile Jason Harris' girlfriend and her mother are both facing obstruction of justice charges for trying to provide a false alibi.
