Barnegat Parents Sought Help For Son The Day He Killed Them: Cops

BARNEGAT, NJ — On the day that Eugene and Cheryl Mulgrew planned to take their son to receive help for his mental health issues, he stabbed them to death, according to a police report.

The report, obtained by Patch, said that on Nov. 1, Cheryl Mulgrew, 69, called police and said that her 34-year-old son Michael Mulgrew was experiencing mental health issues. She requested that Mobile Psychiatric Emergency Screening Services respond for an evaluation, the report said.

But by the time authorities had arrived to the Lincoln Avenue home, Michael Mulgrew was gone, having left the house on foot, according to the report. His mother called police again around 11 p.m. to say he had returned home and was calm, and that she would be taking him to the doctor in the morning, the report said.

However, Cheryl Mulgrew again called police the next day seeking help for her son, according to the report.

It was not clear what time she had called. Ring doorbell video evidence from a neighbor showed the Mulgrews' home at about 10:40 a.m., where loud screaming could be heard, the report said.

When police arrived at about 11 a.m., Michael Mulgrew was walking away and there were blood stains on the front door, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

There was more blood throughout the house, and the dead bodies of Cheryl and Eugene Mulgrew (71) were found in the bedroom, with stab wounds to their upper torsos, Billhimer said.

After a search that locked down Barnegat, Stafford and Waretown schools, Michael Mulgrew was found in the area of West Bay Boulevard and Gunning River Road and was charged with murder. Read more: Murder Charges For Son Who Stabbed Parents In Barnegat: Prosecutor

He told detectives that in 2018, he "had an incident of drug-induced psychosis while living in Vietnam" and uses drugs regularly, according to the police report.

Michael Mulgrew told police he thought his parents were going to hurt him the night before and he left the house, the report said.

A dispute about chores led to him attacking his parents and stabbing them with a knife in the kitchen, the report said.

Michael Mulgrew then dragged their bodies into the bedroom, packed a backpack and then left, according to the report.

In his first appearance in court Tuesday, Michael Mulgrew had to be forcibly removed from a jail holding area after blurting out "I hate everyone and everything" and a brief physical struggle with guards, according to an Asbury Park Press report.

He remains in Ocean County Jail and a new date was not scheduled after corrections officials said that Michael Mulgrew was "experiencing an acute mental health episode" and was unable to be brought to court, the APP reported.

Read more: Colleagues Mourn Loss Of Barnegat Man Killed In Double Homicide