Teen killed parents with a hammer in US

West Palm Beach, Florida : A Florida teenager didn't believe his best friend when he said he was going to kill his parents. He had heard the threats before.

He wasn't convinced when his friend Tyler Hadley, 17, confessed to him in gruesome detail how he had killed his parents with a hammer, or when he pointed to their cars in the driveway, even though they were nowhere to be seen as dozens of teens held a rowdy party inside.

None of it seemed real, the friend told police, until he was led to the master bedroom to see the unthinkable: The bloody, lifeless bodies of Blake and Mary-Jo Hadley, dead on the floor.

The account of the unidentified friend, who ultimately tipped off police, is contained in an affidavit released by authorities Wednesday, in which the killings are described in horrific detail.

Hadley remains held without bond. His public defender entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf Wednesday.

Advertisement

Questioned by police, the friend, who has been identified only as "MM," said Hadley told him he stood behind his mother for about five minutes Saturday as she sat at a computer. He contemplated her killing before finally plunging into her head with a hammer, according to the police documents.

Screaming, the mother mustered one final question to her son, according to the friend's account: "Why?"

Advertisement

Hadley's father came to the room, locking eyes with the attacker for a moment before the teen began hitting him with the hammer, according to the friend.

The boy took his parents' cell phones away ahead of the attack so they couldn't call for help, according to his friend's account. When it was over, and the parents were dead, Hadley spent three hours cleaning up the blood, before hosting the party at his Port St. Lucie home, his friend told police, recounting what he'd been told. He was surprised how long the cleanup took.

Advertisement

Hadley's public defender, Mark Harllee, said Wednesday he couldn't comment further. "We're still looking at all the facts and all the paperwork," he said.

The lead prosecutor on the case, Tom Bakkedahl, said of the affidavit: "It's clear to us that there's sufficient facts to charge with premeditated murder."

Advertisement

"MM" described himself as incredulous to his friend's account before he was shown a bloody footprint in the garage and, ultimately, the bodies in the bedroom, police said.

Police responded to Hadley's home early Sunday morning after receiving the tip from his friend. When they arrived, they found a "nervous, frantic and very talkative" Hadley, dressed all in black, with enlarged pupils and "a blank stare."

Advertisement

Inside, the home was in disarray, according to police, littered with beer bottles and the butts of cigars. Dried blood appeared to be on the frame of the locked master bedroom door. When they got inside, a large amount of blood was seen on the floor and bed sheets.

Dining room chairs, a coffee table, clothing, picture frames, mirrors, bedding, towels and miscellaneous papers were strewn about the room, according to the report. An officer removed two chairs, saw a man's blood-covered leg, and called for an ambulance.

He told his friend he planned to commit suicide by taking painkillers when police ultimately arrived, according to the report.