David Allen Hagal: Man, 60, arrested after stabbing and drowning father to death

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

NEW JERSEY: A man told police that he killed his father by drowning him in a bucket of water in addition to beating and stabbing him.

Records state that the 60-year-old defendant, David Allen Hagal, is being held without bond at the Bergen County Jail in New Jersey on charges that include murder, as per Law & Crime.

David Allen Hagal admitted to crime

According to the local prosecutor's office, he killed his 87-year-old father, George J Hagal, early on Sunday morning.

Press and court records state that when defendant Hagal showed up at the Franklin Lake Police Department, he told officers that he had killed his father at their Haddon Place residence.

George Hagal was dead when police arrived at the house. Additionally, they said to have located the knife and pipe used in the murder.

Police remarked, “Hagal was subsequently interviewed and admitted to bludgeoning his father multiple times with a metal pipe, stabbing his father multiple times with a kitchen knife, and ultimately drowning his father in a bucket of water.”

“Hagal stated that the murder occurred in the second-floor bedroom and bathroom which was later confirmed during a court-authorized search warrant of the premises. During the search, law enforcement located a metal pipe and kitchen knife, both containing suspected blood, inside of the upstairs bathroom,” police continued.

What was David Allen Hagal's motive behind murder?

No motive was suggested by the authorities. Defendant Hagal was characterized by the officers as a potential self-hazard.

“The defendant exhibited suicidal behavior (such as excessive sadness or moodiness) or threatened self-injury during this incident or at any time prior thereto,” they wrote.

Elaine Hagal, the wife of George Hagal, departed from this life on April 28 at the age of 84, following 63 years of matrimony. According to The Daily Voice, George Hagal worked as a police officer in his hometown of Teaneck for 12 years after serving four years in the United States Marines.

According to reports, he was also involved in Teaneck's Boy Scouts and Little League and served as president of the PBA Local 86 police union.

He went on to become vice president of the local wholesale food dealer, which was formerly called Carl Mellone & Son and is currently called Mellone Wholesale Produce of Hackensack, after serving as a police officer. In 1978, the family moved into the house on Haddon Place.