Iowa teen 'covered in blood' admits to killing parents with knife and axe, police say

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An Iowa teenager found by police soaked in blood is charged with killing his parents with a knife and axe because he wanted to "take charge of his life," authorities said. 

Ethan Orton, 17, told Cedar Rapids police officers he killed his parents after they responded to the Orton home just after 2 a.m Thursday following reports of a suspicious person in the area, the department said. He was found sitting outside the home "covered in blood."

"I don't know if he was expecting the police to come. When we arrived, the officer who encountered him first described him as being calm," Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman told KWWL-TV.

A Cedar Rapids, Iowa teenager said he killed his parents inside their home. (Google Maps)

While officers checked on Orton, the teen allegedly told them he had killed his parents.

Inside the home, the officers found the parents dead in the living room. They were identified as Casey Arthur Orton, 42, and Misty Dawn Scott Slade, 41.

Orton faces two counts of first-degree murder. The case has been filed in adult court, police said. He is being held at the Linn County Detention Center on $2 million bond. 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa has had two instances of young men allegedly murdering parents this year.  (Cedar Rapids Police Department)

Charges obtained by KWWL said Orton used a knife to stab his parents. He then allegedly used an axe to kill his mother when he realized she was still alive. 

"Sick to my stomach. You just don't think this kind of thing can happen, and you just don't think it can happen in your neighborhood," neighbor Jean Garrett told the news outlet. "And here it is in our neighborhood, and we have a nice neighborhood. It's just really hard to process. I still remember her laughing and joking with me a couple weeks ago."

In a separate case, Alexander Jackson, an Eagle Scout and a student at the University of Iowa, was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his parents and younger sister at their home in  Cedar Rapids.  (Linn County Correctional Center)

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The slaying came a month after a 20-year-old man was charged with killing his parents and sister in Cedar Rapids. Alex Jackson, a college student, initially told investigators a masked intruder committed the triple murder before he was arrested and charged.