SALEM, Ore. -- A Salem man was charged in a Polk County court Thursday with the aggravated murder of his parents Monday, as his girlfriend was also implicated in the plot, charged for conspiring to kill the couple.The 20-year-old Salem man, Andrew Jondle, and his 46-year-old girlfriend Cindy Lou Beck were arrested Tuesday. Polk County deputies found 61-year-old David Scott Jondle and his 58-year-old wife Marilyn Ruth Jondle dead at their home on Gilliam Road in what the sheriff called a "gruesome" scene.
Andrew Jondle was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, two counts murder and two counts of burglary. He was held without bail
Beck was charged in court Thursday with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of hindering prosecution and her bail was set at $1 million.
Detectives said some time between 11 p.m. Monday night and 2 a.m. Tuesday, Jondle had gone to the home to rob them, in order to pay back rent.
An autopsy Wednesday showed David Jondle died from stab wounds inflicted by a scythe. Marilyn had been beaten to death with a metal pipe.
"We have been able to establish that both Andrew Jondle, son of the victims, along with his girlfriend, Cindy Lou Beck, conspired the plan to kill the victims in order to get money," Wolfe said.
A water delivery person said told police just after 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, he had found a body at the home with the head "smashed in" inside the garage and called police, according to probable cause documents.
Police from several area agencies and Oregon State troopers went to the apartment of the Jondle's son on Royvonne Avenue in Salem around 11:30 a.m.
Andrew Jondle told investigators he and Beck had begun hatching the plot last Saturday.
He later admitted waiting at the couple's home after 11 p.m. Monday before getting impatient, leaving, and then making a phone call to the home. That's when Beck said he called her and said he was waiting for the couple to fall asleep. Beck told Jondle he could come home, or wait and kill them -- and that they "had to be killed at some point in time," detectives said.
He returned and when David Jondle came outside Andrew told police he began hitting him with a steel pipe. He then stabbed his father three or four times, documents showed. The suspect returned home to Salem after taking credit cards and jewelry later found there, detectives said.
A metal pipe suspected to have been the murder weapon was also recovered at the scene, deputies said.
Documents showed Andrew told detectives he tried to make crime scene look like someone else had committed a robbery. Beck said of their plot that they hoped to inherit the family farm. Polk County Sheriff Bob Wolfe said that after Andrew got home, Beck helped him dispose of his bloody clothes.
Wolfe said Beck and Andrew Jondle were in a relationship and his parents didn't approve, causing tension in the family.
Beck previously had children taken by Oregon Department of Human Services and needed money to get them back, investigators said. The Jondles had also recently taken a car away from their son.
According to a website of the family's business, David worked as a software engineer with aerospace companies for several years while Marilyn homeschooled their three sons.
The family decided to start their own farm in 2000.
KGW Reporter Katherine Cook and Michael Rollins contributed to this report
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