Background: A section of Lincoln Avenue in Barnegat Township, New Jersey (Google Maps). Inset left: Michael Mulgrew (Ocean County Jail). Inset right: Cheryl and Eugene Mulgrew (Barnegat Funeral Home).
A New Jersey man has admitted to stabbing his parents to death with a kitchen knife and then dragging their bodies into a bedroom following an argument about household chores.
Michael Mulgrew, 37, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to two counts of murder in the deaths of his parents, 71-year-old Eugene Mulgrew and 69-year-old Cheryl Mulgrew, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced. Prosecutors are seeking two consecutive 30-year prison terms without parole at sentencing this summer.
On the evening of Nov. 1, 2023, Cheryl Mulgrew called police and mental health services in an attempt to get her son help, an affidavit of probable cause cited by NJ.com found. However, by the time someone showed up at their home on Lincoln Avenue in Barnegat Township for an evaluation, he had left.
Hours later, the mother reportedly called police again, telling them that Michael Mulgrew had come back home and that they planned to visit a doctor in the morning.
Cheryl and Eugene Mulgrew would be dead the following day.
On Nov. 2, 2023, at about 11 a.m., officers with the Barnegat Township Police Department "were summoned" to a home on Lincoln Avenue to help medical personnel. As they approached, the officers spotted a man "walking away."
They continued toward the residence and saw "red staining – which appeared to be blood – on the front door." The officers entered, finding blood throughout the home, and as they entered a bedroom, they found "two victims with apparent stab wounds to their upper torsos" as well as a knife.
The victims were identified as Cheryl and Eugene Mulgrew.
Officers determined that the man walking away from the house was Michael Mulgrew, and they found him and took him into custody. He reportedly had a lot to say when investigators interviewed him.
The now-convicted defendant said he left his parents' house the night before because he believed his family would hurt him, NJ.com reported. He then admitted to attacking his parents the next day with a kitchen knife during an argument about household chores before dragging their bodies into a bedroom, packing a bag, and leaving the house.
Michael Mulgrew will be sentenced on June 5.
Cheryl and Eugene Mulgrew were "childhood sweethearts" and married for nearly 50 years, their obituary states. "They were not only life partners but best friends and loving parents," it states, adding, "Together, they created a home filled with warmth, laughter, and love."
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