Son Confesses to Parents' Murders in Shocking TV Interview

Tue Oct 21 2025 00:28:11 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Lorenz Kraus openly admits to killing and burying his elderly parents at their Albany home eight years ago, leading to his arrest immediately after the interview.

In a surprising confession during a television interview, Lorenz Kraus, 53, admitted to murdering his parents, Franz and Theresia Kraus, eight years ago, claiming it was out of mercy. After the interview with CBS6, police arrested Kraus, who is now facing double murder charges. Authorities discovered the bodies in his backyard during a financial crimes investigation, revealing that Kraus had continued to collect his parents' Social Security benefits despite their deaths.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A man admitted to killing and burying his parents eight years ago in the backyard of their upstate New York home during a television interview this week, then was arrested as he left the studio.

The stunning on-camera confession from Lorenz Kraus, 53, came Thursday, a day after police say they recovered two bodies from the home in Albany as part of an investigation that found Kraus’ parents, Franz and Theresia Kraus, were still receiving Social Security payments despite not having been seen or heard from in years.

Kraus contacted local news outlet CBS6, sitting for a half-hour interview, describing the deaths as mercy killings for two aging and ailing parents.

“They knew that this was it for them, that they were perishing at your hand?” news anchor Greg Floyd asked Kraus.

“Yes,” said Kraus. “And it was so quick.”

Kraus was initially reluctant to directly say he had killed the couple but made the admission shortly after questioning from Floyd. He stated that his parents didn’t explicitly ask to be killed but “they knew they were going downhill.”

“I did my duty to my parents,” Kraus explained, emphasizing his concern for their misery.

Kraus was arrested moments after he left the television studio and now faces two counts of murder, a not guilty plea was entered by a public defender during a brief court appearance on Friday.

Stone Grissom, the TV station’s news director, revealed that the interview was initiated when Kraus emailed a two-page statement to CBS6 that included his phone number. After verifying his identity, Grissom said Kraus admitted on the phone that he had buried his parents in his yard but invoked his right to remain silent when directly asked if he killed them.

Grissom arranged the interview on the condition that they would post Kraus’ statement on the station’s website. Within an hour, Kraus arrived at CBS6 where he was frisked for weapons before the interview, which was conducted in the presence of a plainclothes police officer. Floyd stated he had only 10 minutes to prepare for the live interview.

Albany County Assistant Public Defender Rebekah Sokol indicated that she would investigate the circumstances surrounding the interview, questioning whether the media acted as an agent for law enforcement, which could impact the admissibility of Kraus' statements at trial.

The discovery of the bodies in the yard followed an investigation into financial crimes tied to Kraus, who was allegedly collecting and misusing his parents' benefits. The deceased are believed to be Franz, 92, and Theresia Kraus, 83, pending positive identifications from authorities.