Florida Man Reportedly Electrocuted Elderly Father On Thanksgiving Morning


John Knudsen, an Ormand Beach, Florida, man accused of electrocuting his father on Thanksgiving morning, is now behind bars, facing charges of attempted murder and battery.

People reports that Knudsen, 44, recently learned that he was the sole heir to his father’s will, an 81-year-old man also named John Knudsen. Authorities believe that learning he was the beneficiary to a will convinced the son to get rid of his father quickly.

A few days prior to learning about the will, on November 22, the older Knudsen was lecturing his son about finding a job, something that the younger Knudsen reportedly took offense to. Without employment and upset about being lectured, the motive for the son’s attempted murder on his father may already be set in place.

On Thanksgiving morning, the younger Knudsen allegedly snuck into his father’s bedroom and charged at him while holding two black wires. He allegedly pressed the wires to his father’s chest in an attempt to electrocute him. According to police, the older Knudsen felt a surge of electricity go through his body and collapsed. He survived the ordeal, although it left him “incapacitated.”

“The victim explained he felt a charge of electricity surge through his body which caused him to become incapacitated.”

The electrical cord was plugged into a socket, with two open wires on the other end. According to the older Knudsen, his son intentionally shocked him with the wires in an attempt to kill him so that he could get the money his father was planning to leave to him.

When the older Knudsen awakened from the shock, he was lying on the floor with a pounding headache. He told police that he then tried to calm his son down. Both father and son went to bed in separate bedrooms, but the elder Knudsen stated that he slept with a pistol close to him in a locked room until his son fell asleep. After he saw that his son was sleeping, the father went to the Ormond Beach Police Department and told authorities what transpired.

Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that when the father arrived to the police station, he had a bruise on the right side of his head. He also told authorities that his son was aware of his weakened heart condition.

John Knudsen
John Knudsen, 44, is accused of assaulting his elderly father and trying to electrocute him to death with two wires. [Photo by the Ormond Beach Police Department]
When officers arrived back to the father’s home, the son was still there but wouldn’t answer any of their questions and became uncooperative. He was arrested and taken to jail.

Authorities were dispatched the to the elder Knudsen's home after he filed a complaint against his son. [Image via Shutterstock]
Authorities were dispatched the to the elder Knudsen’s home after he filed a complaint against his son. [Image via Shutterstock]
According to victim’s rights attorney Jason Turchin, even if the son had been successful in killing his father, he wouldn’t get anything from his will. A Florida law, known as the “Slayer Statute,” mandates that anyone who intentionally kills a decedent forfeits any and all inheritance that would have otherwise belonged to the them. The law also applies to the spouse and children of the person convicted of killing the decedent, even if they had no part of the crime.

Knudsen remains in the Volusia County Branch Jail. His bond was set at $70,000, but he has yet to make a plea. He’s being charged with one felony count of attempted first-degree murder and one felony count of aggravated abuse of an elderly or disabled person. According to court documents, John Knudsen doesn’t have any prior felony convictions in Volusia County. So far, there is no indication as to whether the younger Knudsen has retained an attorney.

[Photo by the Ormond Beach Police Department]

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