A chilling revelation has stunned the Albany community after a local man confessed to murdering his elderly parents, burying them in their own backyard, and then giving a bizarre televised interview about the killings.
Lorenz Kraus, 53, son of Franz and Tereza Kraus, sat down with CBS6’s Greg Floyd following a police search of the family home on Tuesday, initially tied to suspected financial crimes.
What officers uncovered in the backyard over the next two days has left authorities and the public reeling.
The Timeline of Horror
Franz and Tereza Kraus, who would have been 92 and 83 today, disappeared in 2017.
During a search connected to financial investigations, police found one body on Wednesday, followed by additional skeletal remains on Thursday.
After speaking to investigators, Kraus reached out to CBS6 and gave a bizarre, on-air confession that left viewers and journalists alike stunned.
Details of the Confession
In the interview, Kraus revealed he had smothered his father with his hand in August 2017 and then killed his mother using a rope a few hours later.
When asked whether his parents had told him to end their lives, Kraus insisted it was only “implicit,” citing prior discussions about do-not-resuscitate orders and his mother’s grief after losing a daughter.
He described observing his father’s declining vision and hearing and his mother’s reduced independence, claiming he acted out of a sense of family duty.
“There is something special about our family that we can somehow read each other’s minds,” Kraus said.
A Conversation Beyond Belief
CBS6’s Greg Floyd pressed him on the morality of the act. Kraus calmly stated that the killings were “so quick” and admitted he suffocated his father first before moving on to his mother.
He then buried them on the property after several days of indecision.
Kraus repeatedly framed his actions as a form of duty, insisting he had done the “right thing” and even comparing it to historic battlefield deaths, referencing ancient Greeks and Native American tribes.
Floyd challenged these comparisons, pointing out the reality: the deaths occurred in their home, not on a battlefield.
Financial and Legal Implications
Kraus admitted to continuing to collect his parents’ government benefits but insisted all money was given away and not used for personal gain.
Police later confirmed that the investigation into potential financial crimes revealed Kraus had been using the Social Security payments to support his lifestyle.
Mental Health and Extremist Views
Kraus denied being under the influence of drugs or suffering from mental health conditions during the killings, though he admitted to being “a little sleepy.”
Further examination of his social media revealed troubling extremist and anti-Semitic content, including admiration for Adolf Hitler, links to neo-Nazi message boards, and far-right conspiracies.
Interestingly, in 2020, Kraus even appeared as a presidential candidate in New Hampshire on the Democratic ballot, maintaining a now-defunct campaign website that reportedly included offensive content.
Arrest and Charges
After the interview, police immediately took Kraus into custody outside the news station.
He faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of concealment of a human corpse.
Kraus is expected to be arraigned in Albany City Criminal Court this morning.
Authorities continue to investigate both the financial crimes and the full extent of Kraus’s actions, while the local community grapples with the shocking nature of the case.