Man sentenced to life without parole for murder of wife, daughter with ax

Reginald Maclaren received multiple life sentences Wednesday morning for the 2023 murders of his wife and daughter, according to judicial officials.

In June, Maclaren, 83, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of tampering with a deceased body and one count of false reporting in the deaths of his wife, 70-year-old Bethany, and daughter, 35-year-old Ruth Jennifer, on March 25, 2023.

Maclaren was sentenced to life in prison without parole for both counts of first-degree murder, 12 years in the Department of Corrections for both counts of tampering with a deceased body and 120 days in jail for false reporting, the 18th Judicial District said Wednesday.

The judge ruled the sentences would run consecutively. Investigators said Maclaren killed his wife and daughter with an ax, dismembering one of their bodies and putting them both in large trash cans in the living room of their home at 901 Englewood Parkway before calling police to report someone he knew murdered them with a hammer, according to previous reporting.

Maclaren later confessed to the killings, telling investigators he recently lost his job and was worried his wife and daughter would become homeless if he could not afford rent, Englewood police said.

One hospitalized in crash involving RTD bus, motorist

A person was sent to the hospital with serious injuries after a Wednesday motorist-vs.-bus crash in Denver’s Villa Park neighborhood, police said.

Officers responded to the crash at the intersection of West 10th Avenue and Federal Boulevard, the police department said in an 8:45 a.m. statement on social media. Information about what caused the crash and what vehicle the injured motorist was driving was not available Wednesday.

— Lauren Penington, The Denver Post

Body found in John Martin Reservoir State Park

Colorado Parks and Wildlife workers recovered a man’s body from John Martin Reservoir State Park, in Bent County, on Tuesday morning, the agency said in a news release.

State officials responded to a report of an abandoned truck and trailer near the reservoir’s west boat ramp around 10 a.m. and found what appeared to be a body floating in the water nearby. The man’s identity and cause of death will be released by the county coroner’s office. The man was not wearing a life jacket, according to Parks and Wildlife. — Katie Langford, The Denver Post