Crime & Safety

Antioch Man Charged With Murder for Suspicious Deaths of Wife, Mother

A 54-year-old Antioch man has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the suspicious deaths of his 82-year-old mother and 61-year-old wife, according to the Daily Herald. 

Billy E Varner was arrested Saturday after police say he used a shotgun to rob a church during a service in Willston, N.D. Local officials have been searching for Varner since last Monday, Oct. 28, when the bodies of his mother, Dorothy Varner, and wife, Peggy Henderson were found in an apartment in the 1200 block of Main Street in Antioch, according to the Daily Herald. 

Police have not released information on how the women found in the Antioch apartment died, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

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Varner was wanted on a warrant related to a stolen van and has not named an official suspect in the deaths, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

Local authorities traveled to North Dakota where, as of late Sunday, they were questioning Varner, according to the Daily Herald. 

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The Daily Herald has more on this story. 


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