A wave of shock rippled through a peaceful neighborhood in New Jersey, when the bodies of Frank and his wife were found dead in their house next to two baseball bats and one blood-stained kitchen knife. Those living in the neighborhood couldn’t believe that somebody would kill their community’s nicest and most giving couple in such a brutal manner. Their daughter found it strange that her parents weren’t picking up their phone and decided to drive over to their house to check on them with her husband.
One look through the window at her parents’ house left Jen horried as she saw her father tied up to a chair with his head covered in plastic. Jen’s husband immediately called the police, who arrived and broke into the house to find the two 73-year-old highschool sweethearts dead.
After Jen told the police that her brother had been putting up posts on social media about hurting his parents, the police began looking for Todd. H was tracked down at a casino, blowing up his parents’ money on gambling.
Todd had driven to a Pennsylvania casino in his parents’ car and was sitting at a blackjack table when the police nabbed him and took him into custody. Stains of blood were found on his shoes and clothes, and even inside the silver KIA Soul he had stolen from his parents.
The then-50-year-old man admitted to the police that he had violently beaten up his parents with baseball bats before suffocating them by placing plastic bags over their heads. The man, who has had a drinking problem and a gambling addiction, also admitted that the first baseball bat he had been using on his mother broke, after which he picked up another one and continued the brutality. Grabbing a kitchen knife, Todd went on to stab his parents before driving away to spend their money on gambling.
Even after being arrested, Todd reportedly showed no remorse for the murders he had committed in October, 2019. His parents were extremely loved in their community and praised for their charity work, and they had invited Todd to stay with them while he gets his life back on track. But after ruthlessly slaying them, Todd offered no explanation on why he took their lives in such a manner.
“They were the nicest couple – friendly and kind. They loved their grandkids so much, you would see them in the front yard playing with them,” said neighbor Pat Schepis. A year after murdering them, Todd was sentenced to 36 years in prison on first-degree murder charges and an additional five years for credit card crime.