Reginald Maclaren received multiple life sentences Wednesday morning for the 2023 murders of his wife and daughter, according to judicial officials.
In June, Maclaren, 83, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of tampering with a deceased body and one count of false reporting in the deaths of his wife, 70-year-old Bethany, and daughter, 35-year-old Ruth Jennifer, on March 25, 2023.
Maclaren was sentenced to life in prison without parole for both counts of first-degree murder, 12 years in the Department of Corrections for both counts of tampering with a deceased body and 120 days in jail for false reporting, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday. The judge ruled the sentences would run consecutively.
Investigators said Maclaren killed his wife and daughter with an ax, dismembering one of their bodies and putting them both in large trash cans in the living room of their home at 901 Englewood Parkway before calling police to report someone he knew murdered them with a hammer, according to previous reporting.
Maclaren later confessed to the killings, telling investigators he recently lost his job working with homeless people and was worried his wife and daughter would become homeless if he could not afford rent, Englewood police said.
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Originally Published: July 10, 2024 at 10:30 a.m.
