The father of a man accused of killing two lesbian activists said his son snapped under business and personal pressure and shot the women in a botched robbery attempt after killing another person.
A SWAT team converged on a motel Wednesday in Stockton, Calif., and arrested Robert James Acremant, 27, on charges of murdering Roxanne Ellis and Michelle Abdill in Medford. His mother had tipped off police.The two women were found last week bound, gagged and shot in the head in the back of their pickup truck.
Acremant's father, Kenneth Acremant of Stockton, told the Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday night that his son told him he killed the women when a robbery attempt went awry.
"He said he needed the money to get out of the country," said the elder Acremant, who visited his son in jail.
The slayings alarmed many gays, who believed the women were killed because of their gay rights activism. Police, prosecutors and the suspect's father said there was no indication that was the case.
Acremant also said that his son admitted killing a friend, Scott George, 23, of Visalia, Calif., on Oct. 3 in a fit of rage after a night of drinking.
Police in Visalia, Stockton and Medford said no one was available to comment on the father's remarks.