WABASHA, Minn – A western Wabasha County man charged with killing his 73-year-old father said he did it because the dad was “mean” and “getting meaner.” A criminal complaint, charging second-degree murder, quoted James Riley that he struck his father on the head with a hammer a couple of times and then stabbed him with a knife. Riley said he used a forklift tractor to carry his father’s body to a car and placed the remains in the trunk. This was in the early afternoon Friday. Riley’s mother discovered the body when she returned from grocery-shopping around 2 o’clock. First she found her son asleep inside the family farmhouse southeast of Zumbro Falls. She couldn’t find her husband but noticed his car was parked oddly and checked the trunk. The body was inside, covered with a tarp. She said she wakened her son and called 911. The son left but returned around 8:45 p.m. and, according to the criminal complaint, admitted to the fatal bludgeoning and stabbing.
