Montco man charged with killing father in gruesome attack
The victim had been stabbed with a butter knife and one of his eyes had been pulled out, officials said.
A 30-year-old Lansdale man has been charged with fatally injuring his father during what he told police was a drug-fueled attack in which he pulled out one of the victim's eyes, authorities said Thursday.
Thomas Lane, 74, who had also been stabbed repeatedly with a butter knife, died March 29, two days after his son, Preston Lonnberg-Lane, pounced on him in his bed in their home on the 1000 block of Delaware Avenue, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said Thursday.
"This father was asleep in his bedroom and savagely attacked by his son," District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said in a statement. "Now the man is dead and a son is behind bars."
Lonnberg-Lane has been charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, and possessing an instrument of crime, Steele said.
According to court documents, police were summoned to the home about 4:45 a.m. March 27, when Lonnberg-Lane made a distraught call to 911 during which he said, "I just … tried to kill everyone in the house … I, I need help."
Arriving officers found Lane bloodied and semi-conscious on the floor of his bedroom, police said. He had stab wounds to the head, neck and arm, and his eye was on the floor. Police found blood stains and a butter knife on the bed.
Lonnberg-Lane told detectives he snorted what he thought was two packets of fentanyl about 3:30 a.m. to go sleep. While listening to music, he got up and "grabbed a butter knife from the kitchen and tried to kill my dad," he told investigators.
Lonnberg-Lane said he then stabbed his father, punched him, put him a choke-hold and "tried to pull out his eye." The attack ended, Lonnberg-Lane told police, when he heard his father say, "Preston, Preston, what are you doing?"
Lonnberg-Lane is being held without bail at the Montgomery County prison. A preliminary hearing has been set for Monday.