A St. Louis man on Wednesday was found guilty of the 2021 murder of a prominent Peoria surgeon and patron of the arts.
Dr. William Marshall, 92, was found fatally stabbed in his High Point Dr. home on Jan. 6, 2021. Paintings with an estimated value of more than $200,000 were missing from his house.
Marshall was the first chair of the surgery department at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria, a former corporate director of medical services for OSF HealthCare, and the onetime leader of several medical societies. He also donated numerous art pieces to the Peoria Riverfront Museum and its predecessor, Lakeview Museum, over the years.
Robert Ely, 57, was identified by a home health care worker. A neighbor's home surveillance camera also caught footage of a man who looked like Ely driving away from the scene in a white pickup truck, with one of the stolen paintings in the front seat.
Prosecutors said Ely asked a friend to hide the truck for him. Police found a bloody knife and a storage locker business card in the vehicle. The blood matched Marshall's, and the paintings were discovered in the locker.
Sentencing is set for April 25.
