Reginald MacLaren (Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office)
A jury in Colorado on Friday convicted an 83-year-old man in the murder and dismemberment of his wife and disabled daughter, prosecutors say.
Reginald MacLaren was found guilty of two counts each of first-degree murder and tampering with a deceased body along with false reporting, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a press release. MacLaren murdered his wife Bethany MacLaren, 70, and daughter Ruth Jennifer MacLaren, 35, with an ax and then chopped them up with a saw before stuffing their bodies in trash cans he had bought over a week earlier at Home Depot.
Prosecutors say Reginald MacLaren called the Englewood Police Department around 6 p.m. March 25, 2023, to say he believed his wife and daughter were murdered. When cops arrived they noticed two large trash cans in the living room. The severed body of his wife was in one bin while the other held his daughter, according to prosecutors. Cops then found a large ax in a closet and the saw next to the trash cans.
“Mr. Maclaren betrayed his family in a gruesome and senseless ambush that he planned for weeks,” Chief Deputy DA Jake Adkins said in a statement. “He violently murdered his wife and daughter and planned to dispose of their bodies like trash.”
A judge will sentence him on July 11. He faces a mandatory life sentence.
“It is difficult to imagine the fear and confusion that these two women endured in their final moments.” Senior Deputy DA Corrie Caler said. “Ruth and Bethany Maclaren lives’ were needlessly cut short, and we are thankful for the jury in returning a just verdict.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, Englewood police said in a press release that both victims appeared to have sustained “substantial injuries” and showed “no signs of life.” They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Englewood homicide detectives, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation Crime Scene Unit and the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office all responded to the crime scene to conduct a joint investigation. Detectives say they found a Stanley brand hand saw near the garbage cans and “observed large amounts of blood throughout the apartment,” according to a sworn affidavit.
About three hours after the 911 call, detectives say MacLaren confessed to the murders, saying he had recently been terminated from his job, had no money left, and had to kill his family to prevent them from becoming homeless.
“Approximately 10 days ago, [MacLaren] began planning to kill his family so they would not be homeless,” the affidavit states. “He bought an ax, two ‘Totter’ style trash cans and a hand saw from Home Depot. He fully intended to use these items in the commission of the murders.”
MacLaren also allegedly provided details about the murders.
“This morning (3/25/23) at approximately 11 a.m., his wife and daughter were sitting on the couch. He struck his wife in the head with the ax, immediately knocking her unconscious,” the affidavit states. “He then struck his daughter in the head with the ax, knocking her unconscious. He struck each victim in the head with the ax two more times. He knew he had killed them.”
MacLaren further told investigators that he knew the bodies of his wife and daughter would not fit into the newly purchased trash cans, so he “used the saw had purchased to saw the victims’ arms and legs off” before putting their remains in the cans. However, he told police that he was not strong enough to lift the cans, so he couldn’t move the bodies.
“[MacLaren] does not regret killing his family as he ‘knows they are in a better place,’” police wrote in the affidavit.
Englewood Police Division Chief Tracy Jones said that some of the detectives who had been on the job for more than 20 years said the inside of MacLaren’s home was “one of the most gruesome crime scenes that they’d ever been a part of.”
Jerry Lamb contributed to this report.
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