Reginald Maclaren Murdered His Wife and Daughter, Dismembered Their Bodies, and Claimed He Was Trying to Save Them From Homelessness

On March 25, 2023, 81-year-old Reginald L. Maclaren called police in Englewood, Colorado, claiming someone he knew had murdered his wife and daughter with a hammer.

When officers arrived, they discovered the bodies of Bethany Maclaren, 70, and Ruth Jennifer Maclaren, 35, partially dismembered and hidden inside large trash cans in the family's apartment.

But there was no mysterious killer.

Reginald Maclaren had murdered them himself.

Investigators determined that Maclaren had spent days planning the killings. He attacked his wife and daughter with an ax, then used a handsaw to dismember their bodies.

He also cut up their identification cards and attempted to dispose of their belongings to conceal the crime.

Shortly after his arrest, Maclaren confessed.

His explanation was that he had recently lost his job, the family was running out of money, and he feared they would become homeless.

He claimed he killed Bethany and Ruth to spare them from living on the streets.

He decided death was preferable to poverty, and made that decision for two women who never fucking asked him to.

Maclaren initially pleaded not guilty, but prosecutors presented evidence that the murders were deliberate and premeditated.

On June 28, 2024, an Arapahoe County jury found him guilty on all counts.

On July 10, 2024, he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus 12 years for tampering with the bodies and 120 days for falsely reporting the crime.

Bethany was 70. Ruth was 35. They deserved the chance to face whatever difficulties life brought them. Instead, the man who claimed he wanted to protect them murdered them, cut up their bodies, and threw them away like garbage.