- Tryston Erickson, 29, was ordered to stand trial on charges accusing him of killing his mother and stepfather.
- Judge Thomas Low found sufficient evidence for that ruling during hearings on March 18 and May 1.
- Erickson was arrested in Colorado after a police chase after officers located him by pinging his mother's phone.
PROVO — A judge has ordered a Spanish Fork man to stand trial on charges accusing him of shooting and killing his mother and stepfather.
Fourth District Judge Thomas Low bound Tryston Robert Erickson, 29, over for trial based on evidence presented a preliminary hearing on March 18 and May 1.
On March 14, 2023, police were called to conduct a welfare check on Timothy Parker, 58, and his wife, Jeannie Parker, 50, after both had failed to show up for work. Inside the Spanish Fork house, 1419 S. 2250 East, officers found the couple's bodies partially covered with a blanket in a basement bedroom. Both of them had been shot.
Police reported finding about two dozen firearms throughout the home, holes in the walls, bullet casings, drugs, an open safe and blood residue on the stairs leading to the basement and downstairs hallway.
"The investigation revealed that efforts had been made to clean up the scene, including cleaning up blood and laundering clothing that appeared to have blood on them," according to the charging documents.
Some of Timothy Parker's co-workers told officers that he was in the process of evicting his stepson, and neighbors said they saw Erickson smoking a cigarette outside of the home on March 12 after Jeannie Parker missed work on March 11, according to charging documents.
Detectives pinged the phones of each of the family members, and Jeannie Parker's phone was located near Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Erickson was arrested following a police chase in Grand County, Colorado, and was later extradited back to Utah. Erickson was allegedly found in his mother's car with three guns and bank cards belonging to his family members.
When asked why he went to Colorado, police said Erickson responded, "I knew I was going to jail anyway, and I thought I would have a little fun."
Erickson's phone had photographs from March 12 of the bodies of Jeannie and Timothy Parker, according to court documents.
Erickson, 29, is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; obstruction of justice and theft, second-degree felonies; in addition to three counts of possession or use of a firearm as a restricted person, abuse or desecration of a human body and unlawful possession or use of a financial card, third-degree felonies.
At his arraignment on June 10, Erickson will be asked to enter a plea of either guilty or not guilty.
