83-year-old convicted of killing wife, daughter with ax because he was worried they’d become homeless

UPDATE July 10, 2024: 

The 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office announced July 10 that a judge sentenced Maclaren to life without parole for each count of murder, 12 years for each count of tampering with a deceased body, and 120 days in jail with credit for time serviced for false reporting.

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• Reginald Maclaren Sentencing - 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (TCN) -- An elderly man has been found guilty of killing his wife and disabled daughter with an ax and dismembering their bodies with a saw in 2023.

The Colorado 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced June 28 that a jury convicted 83-year-old Reginald Maclaren of the first-degree murders of his wife, Bethany Maclaren, and their daughter, Ruth Maclaren, as well as two counts of tampering with a deceased body and false reporting. Reginald Maclaren is expected to be sentenced on July 10 and faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder convictions.

According to prosecutors, on March 25, 2023, at approximately 6 p.m., Maclaren called the Englewood Police Department and said he believed his "wife and daughter were murdered." Officers responded to the scene, where they found the severed bodies of Maclaren’s wife and daughter in two separate trash cans in the living room.

Officers discovered a large ax in a closet and a hand saw near the trash cans, which Maclaren said he purchased from Home Depot.

Prosecutors argued Maclaren "struck his wife and daughter multiple times in the head with an ax" before using the hand saw "to dismember their bodies."

According to the district attorney’s office, Maclaren told police "he had recently lost his job and did not want to be homeless." The defendant told officials his finances were diminishing, and his family wouldn’t be able to afford their apartment anymore, the Englewood Herald reports.

Maclaren reportedly told authorities he believes the victims are "in a better place."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Jake Adkins said, "Mr. Maclaren betrayed his family in a gruesome and senseless ambush that he planned for weeks. He violently murdered his wife and daughter and planned to dispose of their bodies like trash."

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