An unstable man from Albany confessed on camera to the brutal murders of his elderly parents, revealing he buried their bodies in the backyard of their serene suburban residence.
In a shocking exclusive interview with CBS6 aired on Thursday, Lorenz Kraus, whose parents, Franz and Theresia Kraus, went missing in 2017, declared, “I buried them on their property.”
“Did you bury them in the backyard of your home in Albany?” CBS6’s Greg Floyd questioned.
“Yes,” Kraus, 53, chillingly responded.
This startling interview was broadcast shortly after police uncovered two bodies at the family’s home.
Authorities initiated their search in the yard on Wednesday, uncovering the initial set of human remains, followed by a second body the next day.
“You suffocated them? You suffocated your parents,” Floyd pressed as Kraus hesitated, attempting to retract his confession and invoke his “Fifth Amendment rights.”
“Yeah, basically,” Kraus admitted, nodding.
“After my father died, my mother laid his head on her chest, and a few hours later, I finished her off,” he revealed, explaining that he choked his father and later strangled his mother with a rope.
Kraus explained it took him a few days to decide to bury their bodies in the backyard.
Initially, law enforcement began investigating Kraus for financial crimes, as reported by The Times Union.
Authorities indicated they received a tip in May from the Social Security Administration, prompting a welfare check on the elderly couple who were still receiving benefits.
When officers arrived, 92-year-old Franz and 83-year-old Theresia were mysteriously missing.
Following the grisly discovery of the bodies, Kraus contacted various news outlets.
“I did my duty to my parents,” he expressed during his conversation with Floyd. “My concern for their suffering was my top priority.”
Throughout the unsettling exchange, he attempted to rationalize the killings as an act of mercy, noting his mother’s injuries from a traffic accident and his father’s inability to drive post-cataract surgery.
When asked directly if he killed them, he said he would “never have done such a thing, knowing it was wrong.”
“My aim is for the American public to recognize that there are 40 million boomers facing similar issues. It affects us all, and we need to expand the law to help deal with these matters,” he stated.
After finishing the tape, Kraus left the CBS6 studio and was promptly taken into custody.
In a peculiar statement released to CBS6 and other media, Kraus neglected to mention his parents but instead spoke of an outlandish plan to replace the state and federal governments with a board of trustees.
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He bizarrely asserted that if the public rejected his plan, he would face prosecution under German law.
His statement went on to criticize politicians including New York Governor Kathy Hochul and President Trump while tying them to convoluted conspiracy theories.
Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox confirmed that they are still working to officially identify the remains as belonging to Franz and Theresia Kraus.
“While we believe these are the remains of the Krauses, we still need to verify their identities,” he stated during a press conference on Thursday.
Additionally, investigators are seeking to determine the cause of death. Police noted they had received a welfare check request from a relative back in February 2020, with a neighbor claiming the Krauses had relocated overseas.
