Chico man accused of matricide to face jury trial

A Butte County Superior Court judge found Wednesday there is sufficient evidence to send a case involving a man accused of killing his mother to a jury trial.

Aaron Connors, 46, of Chico, is charged with killing his 68-year- old mother, Susan Robb, in March, and, if convicted, could face life in prison. The preliminary hearing before Judge Kimberly Merrifield resulted in the decision to have Connors stand trial.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in a press release Connors visited Robb at her home in north Chico during the early morning hours of March 5.

Prosecutors say Robb invited him inside and the two visited with each other for a few hours. As Connors was about to leave the home, according to the release, he went outside to his van to grab a 10-pound dumbbell and went back inside.

The prosecution alleges that while Robb was sitting on her couch with her back to Connors, he approached her frombehind and hit her on the head with the dumbbell, allegedly striking her multiple times.

Robb’s roommate found her body the following afternoon.

Deputies received information indicating Connors may have been at Oroville’s Gold Country Casino and found Robb’s vehicle there, according to the release. Casino staff helped keep Connors under surveillance until deputies arrested himin the parking lot.

Merrifield scheduled the case for further arraignment and jury trial setting on Nov. 18. Connors remains in custody at the Butte County Jail on bail set at more than $1 million.