One of two teenage cousins accused the gruesome murder of an elderly Bakersfield couple last year has agreed to a plea deal. The bargain was reached as prosecutors prepared their trial strategy in the case of the murder of Joseph and Dorothy Parrott.
One murder charge against Kyle Hoffman was dismissed Thursday afternoon after he pleaded no contest to another murder charge and agreed to testify against his cousin. The bargain means Hoffman, 17 at the time of the crime, may someday be eligible for parole.
His cousin, Luis Palafox, 16 at the time of the crime, faces two murder counts and special allegations that could send him to prison with no possibility of parole. Police say Palafox, although younger than Hoffman, was the leader of the two and actually killed the couple in their southwest Bakersfield home on Aug. 6, 2008.
The murders, on Durham Court, in a quiet neighborhood near Stockdale Highway and California Avenue, shocked southwest Bakersfield.
The Parrotts were much beloved and widely respected. Joseph, 81, was a Centennial High School football booster and coach and very active in church groups. Dorothy, 77, had been an administrator at Taft College for 44 years and was a wedding coordinator at her church.
They were married for 58 years.
The crime went unsolved for nearly five months until Hoffman told a minister what he had done. The minister told police, who questioned Hoffman who, according to reports, admitted the crime.
Hoffman told detectives he and Palafox went to the house to burglarize it, thinking no one was home, according to reports.
But, he said, Palafox brought a baseball bat and knife with him, according to reports.
He said Palafox climbed through a window while Hoffman waited outside, reports said. When Palafox came to the side door to let him him in, Hoffman said, he was covered in blood.
The two looted the house and escaped, Hoffman told police.
