A grisly scene unfolded in Gilbert, Arizona, where 56-year-old Gary Crawford has been arrested in connection with the death of his 91-year-old stepfather, Oscar Casdorph, and critically wounding his 81-year-old mother, as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix. Police performed a welfare check at a residence near McQueen and Elliot roads on Nov. 22 around 6:00 p.m. after a family member raised concerns upon the couple’s absence from a dinner and subsequent unresponsiveness to contact attempts.
Upon officers’ arrival at the home, they discovered Casdorph deceased with an apparent head wound and his wife injured, with Steve Dierker, a neighbor, lamenting the loss of Casdorph, who he described as always willing to help and missed by the neighborhood, expressed his shock to 12 News, also reporting that Crawford had been staying at the couple’s home for several weeks. The investigation quickly focused on Gary Crawford, who was not only residing at the home but was missing along with the couple’s car at the time police were alerted.
Authorities later arrested Crawford in Glendale on the morning of Nov. 23, and during an interview with the investigators, Crawford allegedly confessed to the crimes, stating he “snapped” and “blacked out” with anger, using a hammer from the family’s garage to commit the acts; these details coming from court documents cited by 12 News. It was reported that he dispossessed Casdorph’s bank account, taking $1,500 to buy clothes for his girlfriend and attempted to erase traces of the assault by disposing of the hammer, his clothing, and the victim’s phone…