Man charged with murder after admitting killing parents in TV interview
Lorenz Kraus tells US TV station that he "did his duty as a son" - but then pleads not guilty to murder
An American man has been charged with murder after he confessed on TV to killing both of his parents and burying them in their back garden.
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Lorenz Kraus spoke to WRGB News on Thursday after police discovered the bodies at the address in Albany, New York state.
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But a day later pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of concealment of a human corpse. He has since been detained in custody, without bail, awaiting trial.
Franz and Theresia Kraus, who were thought to be 92 and 83, were last seen alive eight years ago, before they vanished without a trace.
Lorenz Kraus, 53, was cuffed by New York Police after he told WRGB anchor Greg Floyd that he had taken action after seeing the health of his parents decline.
It was disclosed that he strangled his father with his bare hands and used a rope to suffocate his mother.
In response to whether he suffocated them, he said, “yeah, basically”.
Kraus said: “My father, after he died, my mother put her head on his chest, and after a few hours, I finished her.
“They knew they were going downhill. I did my duty to my parents. My concern for their misery was paramount.
“I did my duty to them as a son.”
He added that he wanted to “widen up the law so that people can deal with these kinds of problems”.
The parents had continued receiving Social Security payments, despite not having been seen for a long time, and it has been reported that neighbours had thought they had moved back to Germany, the family having moved to the US after the Second World War. Police raided the home on suspicion of financial crimes being committed.
Kraus said his father could no longer drive owing to cataract surgery, and that his mother had suffered injuries after a fall while crossing a road.
It was reported that he spent time on Thursday sending emails to various news outlets offering to give his statement.
He said: “Everything fell into place. I don’t know how it happened that it all fell into place.”
His defence lawyer, Rebekah Sokol, said that she had “very serious concerns,” about the interview, which she said resembled a “police interrogation”.
