ROCK ISLAND -- Police have arrested the grandson of one of the two homicide victims found inside a Rock Island home on Sunday, May 14 and charged him with two counts of first degree murder.
John P. Conwell, 39, was arrested without incident in the area of 2nd and Ripley Streets in Davenport on Monday, May 15 around 1:46 p.m., according to a release from the Rock Island Police Department. He is accused of killing Eleanor M. Conwell and Steve D. Conwell.
Steve Conwell's brother, Paul Conwell said John is Eleanor's grandson and Steve's nephew. He says no one else could have committed such a crime.
"If he can do this to some of our family members you never know what he could do," said Paul, who lost his mother and his brother on Mother's Day.
"This will be a Mother's Day forever marred because of this, and we all have to go through it. It's just going to be tough," he says.
Police are not releasing how the two victims died, but Paul Conwell says they were beaten with a frying pan.
Police were called to the Conwell home in the 1200 block of 29th Street on Sunday night on a welfare check. That is where they located the bodies of 90-year-old Eleanor Conwell and 69-year-old Steve Conwell.
John Conwell remains in the Scott County Jail pending extradition to Illinois. His bond was set at $5 million.
This is a breaking news story. We will update with further information as it becomes available.