'Wicked' man given 99 years in prison after 'senseless' killing of Peoria doctor

Wicked. Evil. Immoral.

Those were among the words used Thursday to describe Robert Ely at his sentencing for the brutal killing of 92-year-old William Marshall on Jan. 6, 2021. It was a crime that Judge Katherine Gorman called "senseless, tragic and unnecessary."

Gorman sentenced Ely, 57, to 99 years in prison for the murder of Marshall and another 15 years for the subsequent burglary of Marshall's home. During the sentencing, Gorman cited the brutality of the crime and Ely's long criminal history of theft.

Four of Marshall's children and in-laws spoke Thursday in court about Marshall. He was a longtime Peoria pediatric surgeon and a man they described as "compassionate" and "exceedingly generous."

The family members also directed harsh words at Ely in court on Thursday, describing him as "heinous," "evil," "wicked" and "immoral."

Marshall's daughter, Lisa Marshall, said the crime has caused her family "ever-present and consuming heartbreak."

"You deliberately murdered a singularly great man," Lisa Marshall told Ely in court.

Marshall's daughter-in-law Susan Marshall described Ely as "wicked, evil and immoral" in her comments to the court.

William Marshall's son, Daniel, in a statement read by a court official, said no family should have to endure the "shock and sorrow" they've had in the wake of their father's death.

James Marshall, another son of William Marshall, said he has gone through an "endless ebb and flow of grief and heartache" because of what Ely did to his father.

William Marshall's family also put the death of their mother, Nancy Marshall, on Ely, saying she "died of a broken heart" 27 days after her husband.

Gorman also mentioned Nancy Marshall when sentencing Ely. Marshall's wife, who suffered from debilitating dementia, sat upstairs, unable to help on the day that Ely brutally beat and murdered her husband in the basement of their home on Jan. 6, 2021.

"Mr. Ely, imagine that happening to your parents," Gorman said before delivering the sentence.

What happened in the death of William Marshall?

Marshall, who was said by prosecution to be agile for his age, did everything he could to defend himself from the attacks of Ely. But Ely, a much younger and stronger man, got the better of Marshall and brutally beat and stabbed the 92-year-old to death in his home.

Ely had made a career of stealing, the prosecution argued, and was even a member of a band of criminals called American Ring. He had first been arrested at 18 years old for theft and later served prison time in Missouri for stealing as well.

Ely was supposedly a member of a roving band of thieves who preyed on the elderly, disguising themselves as roofers or repairmen to manipulate their way into their victims' homes.

This is what Ely had accomplished with William Marshall in 2021, the prosecution argued. What Ely did not anticipate, however, was that 92-year-old William Marshall would fight back.

Evidence was put forward, mainly in the defensive wounds on Marshall's hands, that he fought as long and as well as he could against Ely's attacks the day he was killed.

After killing Marshall, Ely then began removing objects, mainly large paintings, from Marshall's home. Those stolen painting were all used as evidence to tie Ely to the crime.

In June of 2021, police served an arrest warrant for Ely in the murder of Marshall and months of surveillance and evidence gathering tied him to the crime.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 'Evil' man sentenced to 99 years in prison in murder of Peoria surgeon