An 81-year-old man accused of brutally killing his wife and daughter told the police that he killed them in order to prevent them from becoming homeless after he lost his job.
Reginald Maclaren, 81, was arrested by officers from the Englewood Police Department in Colorado after he murdered both women over the weekend with an axe.
On Saturday, March 25, at around 6 pm, Maclaren called the police and told them that his wife and daughter had been killed with a hammer and that he knew who was responsible for their deaths.
Maclaren was inside his apartment when responding officers arrived, and they discovered the bodies of the two women inside huge trash cans in the living room and kitchen.
The victims were lifeless and had clearly suffered severe wounds. One of the women had been sawed into pieces.
According to an arrest affidavit, Maclaren informed detectives that he had recently lost his job and had frequently interacted with homeless people. He said that because he was aware of how miserable such a life was, he did not want his wife and daughter to experience the suffering of being homeless.
When he lost his job and realized he wouldn’t be able to pay the rent, he began formulating plans to murder his family.
He told police how he killed his wife and daughter, saying that he hit them in the head with an axe that morning and rendered them unconscious. After striking them twice more, he placed their bodies in the trash cans but was unable to move the cans outside.
Ruth Jennifer Maclaren, 35, and Bethany Maclaren, 70, were identified as the victims.
He admitted to the police that he had purchased the trash cans, an axe, and a saw with the sole intention of murdering his family and that he had no regrets about what he did.
It was one of the most horrifying crime scenes the police had ever seen, according to Police Division Chief Tracy Jones.
After confessing to the brutal crime, Maclaren was accused of first-degree murder and appeared in court on April 3.
