Mom Tells Son to 'Stop Turning Off Basement Furnace'; He Strikes Her With Cast Iron Skillet, Kills Father After Intervention

A 44-year-old Indiana man, Jason Whitaker, has been accused of fatally stabbing his father and critically injuring his mother during a domestic attack over an argument regarding the furnace temperature. The man violently attacked both his parents when they asked him not to mess with the furnace, according to authorities.

Whitaker has been charged with murder, aggravated battery, attempted murder, and two counts of domestic battery. The attacks left both of his parents seriously injured. His father Orell Whitaker, 74, was killed, while his mother also sustained serious injuries from the attack.

According to the press release from the Merrillville Police Department, officers were dispatched around 2 a.m. on March 15 to the 7400 blocks of Hendricks Street after a 911 caller reported that “she and her husband were being stabbed.”

When the officers arrived at the scene, they encountered the suspect, later identified as Whitaker, who was exiting the home “with his hands up.” The officers then took him into custody without incident.

Additional officers entered the residence and rendered aid to the victims. According to the police, one of the victims was transported to Franciscan Health in Crown Point, “stable, but in critical condition,” while the other victim, Whitaker’s father, was found dead. The authorities mentioned that the ordeal was an isolated incident with no additional threats to public safety.

Court documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune provide further details about the case, including the attack and the events leading up to it.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the incident began when Whitaker’s mother asked him, not for the first time, to stop turning the furnace in the basement off. He allegedly responded by violently attacking her.

She told the authorities that when she was on the basement stairs, Whitaker stuck her in the head with a cast-iron skillet before stabbing her multiple times. That is when Whitaker’s father intervened on behalf of his wife, and the attack turned toward him.

While Whitaker’s father was intervening, his mother escaped to the stairs and called 911. Whitaker stabbed his father multiple times, ultimately killing him. The mother told authorities that when she looked back, she saw Whitaker holding his father’s leg and dragging him along the basement floor.

When the authorities arrived, they pronounced Whitaker’s father dead at the scene. Seeing the mother’s condition, she was rushed to a hospital. Her injuries were ruled a homicide-related case.