A man confessed during a live television interview on Thursday to murdering his parents in Albany, New York. Lorenz Kraus was arrested just moments after his admission in the parking lot of the television station, as reported by WRGB-TV.
Kraus faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of concealment of a human corpse. His parents, Theresia Kraus, 83, and Franz Kraus, 92, went missing in 2017, prompting a Social Security Administration inquiry when benefits ceased. Investigators discovered their absence during a visit to their home on May 21, leading to a fraud investigation.
Authorities conducted a search of the property, uncovering one body on Wednesday and another the following day. Albany Police Chief Brandon Cox stated, “While we are confident that those are the remains of Franz and Theresia Kraus, we still need to do some work and confirm that’s who that is. So we are not going to confirm that is who that is right now, because we need to ultimately go through the actual forensic process.”
During a subsequent interview, Kraus recounted the details of the murders, stating he suffocated his father with a pillow before killing his mother. “After he died, my mother put her head on his chest, and she was there for a few hours, and then I finished her,” Kraus revealed. He mentioned that they never asked to be killed, but acknowledged their declining health.
In a previous conversation with a neighbor, Kraus had claimed his parents moved to Germany, which raised suspicions due to the absence of moving equipment. Despite his televised confession, Kraus pleaded not guilty in court on Friday and is currently held without bail, with a court appearance scheduled for October 1.
This article originally appeared on The Western Journal.