A California man who killed his parents to secure their money—and later brought his children with him while pretending to find their bodies—will spend the rest of his life in prison.
In an effort to disguise the crime, Mark Andre Tomas Navarrete even sent text messages to his deceased parents asking if they wanted to come over for dinner.
On Oct. 16, 2026, a jury convicted Navarrete of two counts of first-degree murder. Judge Michael Bowman subsequently sentenced him to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
The jury also determined that Navarrete had committed multiple murders and that financial gain was a motive behind the killings.
According to Principal Criminal Attorney Aaron Miller of the Homicide Unit, the Elk Grove man was set to inherit half of his parents’ estate after killing them on June 28, 2024.
Navarrete had been operating fraudulent investment schemes aimed at friends and relatives, promising to return their money with unusually high interest. Investigators said his parents had helped repay some of the family members he owed, a decision that deepened his anger toward them.
That resentment ultimately became a murder plot.
Navarrete drove from his Elk Grove residence to his parents’ neighborhood, parked several blocks away, and concealed his identity with a mask and gloves. He then traveled to the house on a kick scooter.
READ MORE: Kyle Carpenter Before Injuries, Medal of Honor: Where Is He Now in 2026?
To avoid being recorded by the Ring camera covering the front porch, he entered through a side gate and encountered his parents near the backyard entrance.
After luring them into the garage, Navarrete hit both victims in the head with an object and then strangled them while looking directly at them.
He escaped in his parents’ vehicle, left it a short distance from where he had originally parked, and rode the scooter back to his own car.
Navarrete’s next move involved his children, whom he used as part of the deception.
After his sister became worried when she could not contact the couple, Navarrete went to their home with his children and pretended to discover his parents’ bodies.
Investigators, however, found evidence that exposed the staged scene and began to dismantle his account of what happened.
Detectives located the kick scooter inside Navarrete’s garage, and DNA testing identified his DNA beneath his mother’s fingernails.
Using Flock cameras and additional traffic-surveillance footage, the Elk Grove Police Department reconstructed Navarrete’s movements on the day of the murders.
