California son strangled parents for inheritance — then dragged his own kids into sick cover-up

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A California man who brutally murdered his parents for financial gain, then brought his own children along when he pretended to discover their bodies, will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

In a chilling attempt to cover his tracks, Mark Andre Tomas Navarrete texted his dead parents to ask whether they wanted to come over for dinner.

Navarrete was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole by Judge Michael Bowman after a jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder on Oct. 16, 2026.

Jurors also found that Navarrete committed multiple murders and that the killings were motivated by financial gain.

The Elk Grove killer stood to inherit half of his parents’ estate when he murdered them on June 28, 2024, according to Principal Criminal Attorney Aaron Miller of the Homicide Unit.

Navarrete had been running fake investment schemes targeting friends and relatives, promising to repay their money with exorbitant interest rates. Investigators determined his parents had stepped in to repay other family members for debts he owed, fueling his resentment toward them.

He turned that resentment into a deadly plan.

Navarrete drove from his Elk Grove home to his parents’ neighborhood, left his vehicle several blocks away, then disguised himself with a mask and gloves before riding a kick scooter to their house.

He slipped through a side gate to avoid the front porch Ring camera and met his parents at the backyard entrance.

Once he got them into the garage, Navarrete struck both of them on the head with an object before strangling them to death while facing them.

He then fled in his parents’ car, parked it a short distance from his original parking spot and used the scooter to return to his own vehicle.

The next part of his twisted scheme involved his own children.

When his sister grew concerned because she could not reach them, he drove to their home with his children and staged the discovery of their bodies.

But investigators uncovered crucial evidence that would unravel his elaborate ruse.

Detectives discovered the kick scooter in Navarrete’s garage, while DNA testing found his DNA underneath his mother’s fingernails.

The Elk Grove Police Department also used Flock cameras and other traffic surveillance footage to track his movements on the day of the killings.

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