Boy, 16, Wanted in Slayings of Parents Left Note

A 16-year-old boy suspected of killing his parents left behind a note to his older brother saying: “I told you I would do it Steve,” a prosecutor said Friday.

The slayings Thursday in this suburb of Allentown happened just four miles from the home where Brenda and Dennis Freeman and their 11-year-old son, Eric, were found dead earlier in the week.

The Freemans’ two teen-age sons, both neo-Nazi skinheads who police say had repeatedly rebelled against their strict Jehovah’s Witness upbringing, have been arrested and charged with murder. They are being held without bail in Michigan.

Pennsylvania police, meanwhile, were looking for Emmaus High School student Jeffrey Howorth on Friday in connection with the slayings of his parents, George, 46, and Susan, 48. He hasn’t been charged.

Jeffrey Howorth was described by friends and neighbors as a standout swimmer who worked weekends at the church where his family had worshiped for 20 years.

Another son, Stephen, 20, discovered his parents’ bodies inside their brick, ranch-style home.

On Friday, Lehigh County Dist. Atty. Robert Steinberg said officials found a “rambling” note believed to have been written by Jeffrey Howorth with “evidence of ill will aimed at his parents.”

In part of the note, according to court papers, the youth addressed his older brother: “I told you I would do it Steve. You can’t say I didn’t warn you.”

George Howorth had been shot five times, his wife nine times, apparently by a .22-caliber rifle, said Lehigh County Coroner Wayne Snyder. He said it appeared the Howorths had been ambushed in their home sometime around 5 p.m. Thursday.