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Reginald Maclaren was convicted on charges including two counts of murder in the deaths of 70-year-old Bethany Maclaren and 35-year-old Ruth Jennifer Maclaren.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — An 83-year-old man was convicted Friday on all counts in the 2023 murders of his wife and daughter with an ax.
An Arapahoe County jury found Reginald Maclaren guilty of the following charges in the deaths of 70-year-old Bethany Maclaren and 35-year-old Ruth Jennifer Maclaren:
- Two counts of first-degree murder after deliberation
- Two counts of tampering with a deceased body
- False reporting
On March 26, 2023, Maclaren called 911 and said his wife and daughter had been murdered.
>The video above is from March 2023.
When officers arrived at their apartment at 901 Englewood Pkwy., they found the bodies of the two victims inside large trash cans in the living room/kitchen area of the apartment, according to Englewood Police.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Englewood Police Department, Maclaren told police he had recently been terminated from his job and he frequently dealt with people who were experiencing homelessness.
He said he knew “what a miserable life that was” and didn’t want his family to go through that, the affidavit says.
He told investigators he had no money to pay rent and began planning to kill his family. He described striking his wife and daughter in their heads with an ax as they sat on the couch Saturday morning. He said both were knocked unconscious and that he struck each of them two more times and then placed their bodies in the trash cans. He said he was unable to lift the cans to move them outside the apartment, according to the affidavit.
Maclaren told police he had recently purchased the trash cans, ax and a saw, and he said he “fully intended” to use those items to kill his family. He also told police that he “does not regret” killing his family because he “knows they are in a better place,” the affidavit says.
“Some of our detectives have been detectives for 20 years, and they described this as one of the most gruesome crime scenes that they’ve ever been a part of,” Englewood Police division chief Tracy Jones said at the time. “Our officers who responded, obviously we’re taking their mental health into consideration, and we’re getting them all the help and resources that they need.”
Jennifer Campbell-Hicks contributed to this report.
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