Police: Son Kills Parents in Their Arizona Home Then Calls 911 Saying He’ll Wait for Cops Outside

An Arizona man with a history of mental health issues allegedly bludgeoned and stabbed his parents to death for “putting him on medication” then called 911 to confess to the murders, according to court documents.

Jonathan Turk, 29, told emergency dispatchers that he “murdered his parents with a hammer and knife” and would be ““stepping outside with a water bottle in his hand and would wait for officers,” national and local news outlets reported.

Turk allegedly stabbed his father Fraser “Scott” Turk, 63, before he brutally attacked his mother Tina Turk, 56, with the hammer in their home on Tuesday in Peoria, a Phoenix suburb, according to court documents.

The killings were described by a state attorney in Turk’s court appearance this week as “extremely violent and brutal homicides,” the New York Post reported.

Peoria police arrived to find the suspect standing outside as he promised. They found the body of his father at the top of the stairs and his mother in the master bedroom. The weapons were stashed in a trash can, according to KTVK, Phoenix’s CBS affiliate.

“Multiple mental health petitions” were completed by the couple on their son, according to investigators.

“We have concerns about his mental health and mental stability at this time,” the state attorney said during Turk’s court appearance. “He has multiple prior mental health petitions, including three in 2026.”

Turk was charged this week with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of second degree murder, the premeditated homicide counts making him eligible for Arizona’s death penalty.

The prosecutor told the court the suspect would be a “significant danger to the community” before he was ordered held on $2 million cash bond.

Turk’s parents, who were married for 30 years, were described by one friend in a Facebook post as “the definition of a model couple.”

“They were more than just a gorgeous, happy couple.” Wrote Rob Cagnetta. “They were an anchor of kindness and devotion. This is how they should be remembered.”

 Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.