Teen Killed Parents to Avoid Chores

It's not uncommon for a teenager to go to extreme measures to avoid having to do chores: Television and the Internet are far more appealing than taking out the trash and loading the dishwasher.

Nonetheless, most kids slog through it, if only for the sake of getting their parents off their backs. That, however, was not the case with a Colorado teen who police say fatally shot his mother and stepfather to get out of doing his household duties.

The 14-year-old boy, John Caudle, has been charged as an adult with two counts of murder. He is being held at a youth center and is due in court next week.

The case began in late October, when Park County deputies stopped a pickup truck in Fairplay. The driver, Caudle, was too young to drive, so police attempted to find his parents, who he said lived about 130 miles away near the city of Monte Vista. The boy said he was going to visit his uncle.

When the patrol officer contacted authorities near the boy's home, he was told that police were already at the house, which was being treated as a crime scene. Earlier that day, a relative had found the bodies of the boy's mother and stepfather, Joanne Rinebarger, 34, and Tracy Rinebarger, 38, on the bedroom floor.

According to the arrest affidavit, Caudle told police that he had an argument with his mother at home on Oct. 26. Afterward, he allegedly took two .22-caliber pistols from a gun safe and shot her dead with one of them. He then hid in a laundry room and allegedly shot his stepfather when he walked by.

"Caudle said the reason he shot Joanne Rinebarger was because he did not want to do household chores," the affidavit read.

After the shootings, police say, Caudle spent the rest of his day watching movies and playing on a computer. The next morning he took his stepfather's truck and drove to school. When questioned, Caudle's teachers told investigators he seemed "happy" that day.

Caudle is represented by two public defenders, who could not be reached for comment today.