A 43-year-old man killed his father apparently after failing to persuade the victim to give him money for crack cocaine, police say.
Madison County prosecutors on Sunday charged Paul McGary with first-degree murder in the bludgeoning of 70-year-old Harold McGary, whose body was found Dec. 9 in a bedroom in the apartment the two men shared.
Investigators say the elder McGary was struck on the head with a blunt object. Police have not said what the object was.
“We believe (Paul McGary) wanted some money from his father to purchase some crack,” said Ricky Perry, an East St. Louis police detective.
On the day of the slaying Paul McGary went to the police department and told officials he killed his father and where the body could be found, police have said. Perry said Sunday that police did not charge Paul McGary earlier because he had been in the hospital after apparently trying to kill himself with an overdose of medication.