Brothers charged in 1983 beating death of man found bound in hog pen

DIXON, Ill. --Two brothers in their 60s have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with a 1983 beating death in which the victim's body was found naked, bound and gagged in a hog pen.

Lee County authorities on Tuesday arrested Terry Bobell, 68, and Gordon Bobell, 65, both of Chillicothe, in the death of Gary Dawson of Peoria.

The Bobells were being held at Lee County Jail on $1 million bond each. Phone messages left at their homes were not immediately returned, and online records did not indicate whether the men have attorneys who could speak on their behalf.

Dawson died of blunt force trauma to the head, authorities said. His battered body was found on Aug. 28, 1983, in rural Franklin Grove in northern Illinois.

The brothers are not the only ones charged in the case. Lee County State's Attorney Anna Sacco-Miller told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Steven Watts still faces first-degree murder charges in Dawson's death.

The 57-year-old Watts of Berryville, Arkansas, was charged in 2013 and released the following year after posting the required $10,000 after his bond was reduced to $100,000.

News reports at the time of Watts' arrest said authorities believed the case involved people with illicit drug connections and court records were sealed to avoid alerting two other suspects. A working phone number for Watts could not be found.

On Wednesday, Sacco-Miller said she couldn't provide additional information about what led to the arrest of the Bobell brothers.

The arrests were the culmination of a lengthy investigation into Dawson's death, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Department. The Peoria County Sheriff's Office and the police departments of Chillicothe and Dixon assisted with the investigation.