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Southern Illinois man sentenced to life for parents' deaths

Posted February 01, 2019 6:00 am

The Associated Press

MURPHYSBORO, Ill. (AP) - A southern Illinois man has been sentenced to life in prison for the fatal shootings of his parents in 2017.

Jackson County Judge Ralph Bloodworth sentenced 41-year-old Keith Ritcheson of Murphysboro on Thursday. Ritcheson was convicted in a September bench trial of first-degree murder in the deaths of his father and mother, Burl and Brenda Ritcheson of Murphysboro.

Prosecutors said in a news release that Ritcheson received a mandatory life sentence because he was convicted of first-degree murder of more than one victim.

Prosecutors alleged he killed Burl and Brenda Ritcheson in August 2017 at their home, where he had been living for four years after a divorce. Prosecutors maintained Ritcheson grew tired of his parents arguing about his presence in their home and his drinking.

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