Drug-addicted NJ man slaughtered parents who demanded he do chores

☑️ A Barnegat man admitted he murdered his parents

☑️ Michael Mulgrew was upset because he was asked to do chores

☑️ Prosecutors will seek two consecutive 30-year sentences

BARNEGAT — A man charged with stabbing his parents to death over a request to do chores has pleaded guilty to murder.

Michael Mulgrew, 37, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of murder in the 2023 deaths of his parents, Eugene Mulgrew, 71, and Cheryl Mulgrew, 69, inside their Barnegat home, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer. The state will seek two consecutive 30-year terms in state prison.

Investiagtors say Michael Mulgrew became angry when he was asked to help with chores around the house on Nov. 1, 2023. Cheryl Mulgrew called police to report that her son was having “mental health issues” and requested an evaluation. She called back shortly afterwards and said he had calmed down.

When police and members of the Mobile Psychiatric Emergency Screening Services came to the home the next day, they found what looked like blood on the front door. The bodies of Eugene and Cheryl Mulgrew were found in a bedroom, stabbed multiple times in the torso with a knife that was left nearby.

Michael Mulgrew left the home but was caught and arrested later.

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Drug-fueled 'schizophrenic state'

During an interview with police, Mulgrew admitted to using acid, opiates, as well as marijuana four days before his parents were slain, officials said.

Michael said he left the house when his mother told him he was going to be taken to hospital for treatment, sending him into a "schizophrenic state." When he returned, his mother said there were going to be "new rules," which included him not being allowed to leave the house, he reportedly told investigators

The next day when asked to do some chores, he became angry and punched both parents, investigators said he revealed.

He got a knife out of a kitchen cabinet and stabbed his mother in the neck and heart. His father was stabbed trying to protect his wife, officials said.

Michael told detectives he dragged their bodies into the bedroom, took a shower, packed a backpack with water, a towel and a book and left the house before encountering police, officials said.

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