An 81-year-old man who is accused of killing his wife and daughter with an axe told the police that he did so to keep them from becoming homeless after he lost his job.
Officers from the Englewood Police Department in Colorado apprehended 81-year-old Reginald Maclaren after he used an axe to kill both women over the weekend.
Maclaren called the police on Saturday, March 25, at around 6 o’clock in the evening and reported that his wife and daughter had been killed with a hammer and that he knew who was to blame.
The two women’s bodies were found inside huge trash cans in the living room and kitchen while responding officers were inside Maclaren’s apartment.
The victims were dead and had obvious severe injuries. One of the females had been cut up with a saw.
Maclaren told detectives he had recently lost his job and frequently interacted with homeless people, according to an arrest affidavit. He stated that he did not want his wife and daughter to go through the suffering of being homeless because he was aware of how miserable such a life was.
He started planning to kill his family when he lost his job and realized he wouldn’t be able to pay the rent.
He explained to police how he killed his wife and daughter, claiming that he had hit them in the head that morning with an axe to knock them out. He hit them two more times, and put their bodies in the trash cans but couldn’t get the cans outside.
The victims were identified as Ruth Jennifer Maclaren, 35, and Bethany Maclaren, 70.
He confessed to the police that his only motivation in acquiring the trash cans, an axe, and a saw was to kill his family, and that he had no regrets about what he had done.
Police Division Chief Tracy Jones said it was one of the most horrific crime scenes she had ever seen.
Maclaren appeared in court on April 3 after being charged with first-degree murder after confessing to the brutal crime.