Trial Ordered in Rancho Bernardo Slayings

Bradly Charles Parlin, who allegedly killed his mother and stepfather and led police on a wild, wrong-way chase on North County freeways, has been ordered to stand trial on two counts of murder and 50 other felonies.

However, Parlin’s defense attorney, Bill Youmans, said he is attempting to negotiate a plea-bargain agreement with prosecutors that will keep his client out of the gas chamber at San Quentin.

While Parlin, 28, admits to being involved in the Rancho Bernardo slayings, Youmans said an addiction to heroin caused his client to commit the crime.

“Heroin was wielding that hammer,” Youmans said.

San Diego County Municipal Judge Charles G. Rogers ordered Parlin to stand trial. The trial date will be set when Parlin is arraigned in Superior Court on Feb. 18.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Waters is expected to announce at the arraignment whether he will file charges of special circumstances against Parlin, which would make Parlin eligible for the death penalty.

Jean and Wallace Eckroad, Parlin’s mother and stepfather, were attacked in their spacious Abra Way home on Sept. 19. The body of Jean Eckroad, 65, was found with a smashed skull and a hammer under her head. Wallace Eckroad, 76, was severely injured but survived until Oct. 31.

During a preliminary hearing Thursday, a San Diego police detective testified that Parlin admitted to going to his parents’ house with the intention of demanding money and a car.

Detective Renee Hill said Parlin admitted to being in the house after “something terrible had happened.”

Parlin said he confronted Wallace Eckroad and demanded his stepfather’s wallet and car keys, Hill testified. When the detective asked Parlin if Eckroad gave him the items, the detective quoted him as saying, “Apparently not, or I wouldn’t have done what I did.”

In addition to the murders, Parlin is charged with four counts of bank robbery, one count of residential robbery, one count of auto theft and 44 counts of credit card fraud.

Parlin was arrested Sept. 24 after he allegedly robbed the Solana Beach branch of Wells Fargo Bank. Soon after the robbery, sheriff’s deputies saw a van that had been reported stolen from the Eckroads. Parlin, who was driving the vehicle, refused to pull over. During the 45-minute chase, he drove the wrong way on the shoulder of Interstate 15 through Rancho Penasquitos and Mira Mesa.

He was eventually apprehended near Ramona.