The wives of both a murder victim and his accused murderer are behind bars in Morgan County at this hour.
Additional arrests were made this morning in the ongoing homicide investigation surrounding the October death of 32 year old Robert Schofield.
On October 8th, Schofield’s body was discovered buried in a field off Gobbler Road in rural Murrayville, after a four day search when he left work at Nestlie in Jacksonville on Sunday October 4th and then disappeared.
One day later, 35 year old Kenneth J. Acree of rural Murrayville was arrested on charges of first degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death.
The wives of both Schofield and Acree were arrested today in connection to murder.
29 year old Sara M. Schofield of New Berlin was booked into the Morgan County Jail at 8:38 am, and 36 year old Laura C. Acree of Gobbler Road in Murrayville was later booked in at 11:35 am, according to a Morgan County Jail Press release. Both women have been charged with concealment of a homicidal death and obstructing justice.
According to a report by the Jacksonville Journal Courier, both Schofield and Acree are accused of concealing Robert Schofield’s death by providing false information to investigators about the details of his death and of his wherabouts as well as other false information pertaining to the homicide investigation.
The women each face anywhere from one to five years in prison if convicted on the felony charges. Concealment of a homicidal death carries a two to five year penalty, and obstructing justice carries one to three years.
On October 12th, Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson confirmed Robert Schofield died from multiple gunshot wounds. Kenneth Acree was arraigned in Morgan County Court on October 13th. Acree plead not guilty on three counts of first degree murder and one count of concealment of a homicidal death.
In October, WLDS news reported that according to a Facebook Page attached to Kenneth Acree’s name, he and Robert Schofield are allegedly cousins.