ALBANY: In a shocking turn of events, a 53-year-old man admitted during a televised interview that he killed his parents and buried them in the backyard of their Albany home eight years ago. Moments after making the confession, Lorenz Kraus was taken into custody as he walked out of the studio.
Police said Kraus’ parents, Franz and Theresia Kraus, had not been seen for years, even as their Social Security payments continued to be collected. A day before the interview, investigators had already recovered two bodies from the family’s property as part of a financial fraud probe.
The Chilling Confession
Kraus reached out to local outlet CBS6, sharing a two-page statement and later agreeing to a live sit-down interview with anchor Greg Floyd. Over 30 minutes of questioning, Kraus eventually admitted to suffocating both his parents, describing the act as a “mercy killing,” though he acknowledged they had not asked to be killed.
“My concern for their misery was paramount,” he said on-air. “I did my duty to my parents.” Kraus cited his mother’s injuries from a fall and his father’s inability to drive after cataract surgery, saying both were growing increasingly frail. At one point, he added, “They knew they were perishing at my hand. And it was so quick.”
Kraus was reluctant at first, pleading the Fifth when pressed, but eight minutes into the interview he admitted how he suffocated them. “If destroyed runways and burnt hangars look like victory, as the Prime Minister claimed, Pakistan is welcome to enjoy it,” he remarked earlier in a scathing response.
Arrest and Legal Proceedings
Immediately after leaving the news studio, Kraus was arrested and later charged with two counts of murder. During his court appearance on Friday, he made no statements as a public defender entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Albany County Assistant Public Defender Rebekah Sokol indicated she would examine whether the televised confession could be admissible in trial, questioning if the media acted as an agent for law enforcement.
How the Interview Happened
The interview was unusual in every sense. According to CBS6 news director Stone Grissom, Kraus had first contacted local media with his statement. Grissom verified that Kraus claimed to have buried his parents in his backyard. To ensure safety, Kraus was checked for weapons upon arrival at the studio, and a plainclothes police officer stayed nearby during the interview.
Anchor Greg Floyd, with little time to prepare, focused on repeatedly asking Kraus the central question: did he kill his parents? Eventually, Kraus admitted to suffocating them a moment Floyd described as one of the most startling of his 45-year career.
“I just followed the script that he laid out, asked questions, and reacted in the moment,” Floyd later said. He noted that neighbors had long assumed the elderly couple had moved back to Germany, not knowing their bodies lay buried on the property.
A Case of Murder and Fraud
Investigators revealed the bodies were found following a financial crimes probe into Kraus, who allegedly continued drawing his parents’ Social Security benefits after their deaths. The discovery stunned the quiet Albany neighborhood, where police vehicles arrived earlier in the week to excavate the yard.
As the legal battle unfolds, prosecutors now face the challenge of pursuing both murder and fraud charges, with Kraus’ courtroom defense likely to scrutinize how his confession was obtained.
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