Prosecutors claim that an 83-year-old man was found guilty by a Colorado jury on Friday of killing and dismembering his wife and crippled daughter.
Reginald MacLaren was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of tampering with a deceased corpse, and two counts of false reporting, according to a news release from the office of the 18th Judicial District Attorney.
After using an ax to murder his wife Bethany MacLaren, 70, and daughter Ruth Jennifer MacLaren, 35, MacLaren sliced them up with a saw and placed their remains in trash cans he had purchased from Home Depot more than a week prior.
On March 25, 2023, at around six o’clock in the evening, Reginald MacLaren allegedly called the Englewood Police Department to report that he thought his wife and daughter had been murdered.
Two sizable garbage cans were in the living room when the police arrived. Prosecutors said that his daughter was in one bin and his wife’s severed body was in the other. Then, officers discovered the saw near to the garbage cans and a big ax inside a cupboard.
“Mr. Maclaren betrayed his family in a gruesome and senseless ambush that he planned for weeks,” Chief Deputy DA Jake Adkins stated. “He violently murdered his wife and daughter and planned to dispose of their bodies like trash.”
On July 11, a judge will sentence him. A mandatory life sentence awaits him.
“It is difficult to imagine the fear and confusion that these two women endured in their final moments.” Senior Deputy DA Corrie Caler stated. “Ruth and Bethany Maclaren lives’ were needlessly cut short, and we are thankful for the jury in returning a just verdict.”
