‘I think he just completely snapped’: South Beloit murder-suicide investigation continues after couple’s death

SOUTH BELOIT, Ill. (WTVO) — A fundraiser has identified Linda Oldenburg as the victim in a murder-suicide that occurred in South Beloit.

The incident took place inside a home on Gardner Street on Tuesday morning, around 9:30 a.m., where 68-year-old Oldenburg was reportedly shot and killed by her boyfriend of 25 years, Raymond Saunders, who then turned the gun on himself.

“Linda could make anybody laugh. She would give you the shirt off her back. She always wanted to help. That was the most important thing to her, just to help. And he was no different. It’s very shocking,” said Tammy Nelson-Miller, a family friend who started the GoFundMe.

Nelson-Miller described both Oldenburg and Saunders as beloved members of the community, always willing to help others.

She said that the death of Oldenburg’s mother had devastated the couple, and Saunders had helped take care of her.

She speculated that the sadness following these events, along with problems with alcohol, contributed to their tragic deaths.

“I think he just completely snapped. I really don’t think he knew what he was doing because he would have never,” she said.

Oldenburg’s daughter is now left to handle the aftermath, with no life insurance or savings to cover expenses.

“I just hope that Linda can find some peace now. I hope that we can raise enough on the GoFundMe to pay for the house cleaning and to cover the service. We’re trying to do things as inexpensively as we can,” Nelson-Miller said.

“I just like to thank everybody who’s been donating, and her daughter, Chris, would like to thank everybody for all the thoughts, prayers, and we appreciate the generosity. And, we all love them both,” Nelson-Miller added.

The South Beloit Police Department continues to investigate the circumstances leading up to the murder-suicide.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WTVO. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WTVO staff before being published.