EVERETT — Two men accused of beating a Marysville grandmother to death are back in Snohomish County.
Joshua Gilliam, 25, and Ryan L. Miller, 22, were booked into the county jail in Everett shortly after noon Tuesday for investigation of second-degree murder.
A few hours later Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Janice Albert charged the pair with first-degree murder. Gilliam and Miller are accused of bludgeoning Shirley Sweeton, 73, to death with a hammer June 5 while robbing her and burglarizing her Marysville home.
The men are being held on $1 million bail. They could be in court as early as today to be arraigned on the murder charge.
Gilliam and Miller were arrested in Missouri a few days after the brutal attack. Investigators believe the men used Sweeton’s car to drive across the country and financed the trip with Sweeton’s debit and credit cards, according to court documents.
Police were able to track the men’s path by following the trail of purchases with the stolen cards.
Gilliam had lived with Sweeton in the past while he dated her adult granddaughter. Sweeton later filed a protection order on behalf of her granddaughter, telling the judge she was afraid of Gilliam.
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