83-year-old Englewood man convicted of killing wife and daughter with ax

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (KRDO) – An 83-year-old Englewood man was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder 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 his wife, 70-year-old Bethany Maclaren, and daughter, 35-year-old Ruth Jennifer Maclaren:

• Two counts of first-degree murder after deliberation
• Two counts of tampering with a deceased body
• False reporting

At around 6 p.m. on March 25. 2023, the Englewood Police Department responded to a 911 call from an Englewood apartment, made by Reginald Maclaren. he said that his wife and daughter were dead and that he knew the person who killed them.

Officials found the bodies of his wife and daughter, one dismembered, inside trash cans in the living room. Maclaren was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later confessed to the crime.

According to an arrest affidavit from the Englewood Police Department, obtained by our Denver partner 9News, Maclaren described to a detective how he struck his wife and daughter in their heads with an ax that morning before placing their bodies in the trash cans.

He also told detectives that he'd been planning the murder for 10 days, and "does not regret" killing his family because he "knows they are in a better place," according to the affidavit.

His daughter, Ruth, who had cerebral palsy, died from 23 ax wounds, and his wife, Bethany, died from six.

The jury deliberated for two hours before convicting Maclaren on all charges. His sentencing is scheduled for July 10.