Police: Son Killed Father In Arlington Heights
UPDATED 06/14/11 5:58 p.m.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (CBS) -- A son whom police describe as troubled is in custody and hospitalized, after allegedly admitting to the murder of his father in Arlington Heights.
As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, the house at 2645 N. Stratford Rd. in the northwest suburb was still being treated as a crime scene at 11 a.m.
Police have not released the name of the son, who has yet to be charged. But they describe him as a muscular 41-year-old man who has trained in martial arts and ultimate fighting.
The son admitted to killing his father, Stuart Cole, 69, who was the victim of an apparent beating.
Neighbors say they are not surprised the problems in the family ended this way.
Police said the son called 911 around 11:57 p.m. to confess from inside the squat, brown house in a quiet Arlington Heights neighborhood.
"The suspect was very irate, and he was screaming in the phone that he had just murdered his father," said Arlington Heights police Cmdr. Kenneth Galinski.
Two more calls came in from different locations – first, Stuart Cole's wife, then their daughter – saying there had been a murder in the house and the son had admitted it.
"It was extremely scary and frightening," said neighbor Tom Kosmalski.
When police arrived at the home, they initially set up a perimeter around the scene to locate the suspect and victims. But as police strung the crimes scene tape, the son appeared at the front door of the house.
The son was "highly agitated" as he made "verbal admissions and utterances" about what had happened in the home, police said.
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Neighbor Leslie Cook said there had been a history of incidents between the son and his father.
"I looked out the window, and there were canines and police cars, and I knew something was going on," Cook said. "We were told, evidently, this man had a son and how maybe he was not well, and he came through on Halloween and was in the neighborhood running; came and threatened his dad, I think."
Police also say the son has a violent past with his parents, and officer had been called to the house numerous times before.
"He does have a lot of mental issues, and he's been treated for them for several years now," Galinski said.
Kosmalski said the conflicts go back several years.
"There was one instance where he got mad at his father and jumped into car and smashed into tree," Kosmalski said. That was three years ago.
Police have not learned the motive, but Galinski said, "There were some utterances that he said about just not getting along with his father."
The neighbors were shaken up by the incident.
"Sadness – somebody lost his life, especially from the hands of your own child," Kosmalski said. "It's tragic."
Police say the son had been kicked out of the house a while back, but his parents had taken him back in.
On a sidenote, two months ago to the day, another Arlington Heights son allegedly killed his father in a robbery attempt. Matt Nellessen 19, is now being held without bond on charge of robbery and first-degree murder of his father, George Nellessen, 55, in the 100 block of North Wilshire Lane just a couple of miles away from the latest murder scene.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
