Downstate man apparently killed wife, then self

EDWARDSVILLE — Investigators believe a man bludgeoned and stabbed his wife of 14 years to death before taking his own life in their southwestern Illinois home.

Madison County Coroner Stephen Nonn says the bodies of 53-year-old Khalil Mikhayel and 48-year-old Marwa Heneidi were found Monday.

Relatives went to the home near Edwardsville after no one there responded to telephone calls.

Nonn says autopsies revealed that Heneidi died from blunt trauma to the head and stab wounds and that her husband fatally cut himself.

Sheriff’s Capt. Brad Wells tells the Belleville News-Democrat that it appears the husband killed his wife before committing suicide.

Authorities are still awaiting tests on the victims’ blood to determine whether alcohol or drugs played a role in the case.