Stabbing Suspect Was Jubilant, Then Sad, Deputies Say

After his arrest for allegedly stabbing his mother to death and knifing his father, Michael Tonnessen at first displayed jubilation and weirdly eccentric behavior, but his mood swung to stunned remorse when he thought he was alone, according to court records and sheriff’s deputies.

Forced from his parents’ home by tear gas and taken into custody, the 6-foot, 6-inch Tonnessen joked with deputies in an affected Irish brogue, talked of his love for the opera, sang Christmas carols and imitated members of the Three Stooges, court records say.

Later, a hidden listening device in his jail cell picked up a much more repentant Tonnessen exclaiming, “God! What have I done? I’ve killed my mother,” Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.

“He was almost upbeat about being arrested,” said a report written by sheriff’s deputies on their conversation with Tonnessen after his arrest and filed with the Municipal Court in Newhall. “He seemed to be having a good time,” the report said.

Tonnessen asked for a sip of a deputy’s coffee, asked if someone could retrieve his lucky quarter and if the deputy believed in Jesus, the report said. When the deputy replied that he did, Tonnessen said: “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Because of the circumstances surrounding his alleged crimes, deputies chose to place Tonnessen in a special cell rigged with a hidden listening device, where his behavior seemed to change from euphoria to remorse, the report said.

Court records also shed more light on the events before the attacks that left 51-year-old Theresa Tonnessen dead and her husband, Kurt Tonnessen, with a stab wound to the chest.

According to the documents, the fight began a few minutes after midnight, when an already intoxicated Michael Tonnessen, 24, demanded his parents turn over their car keys so he could buy more to drink, records said.

When they refused, Michael took a knife from the kitchen and told his parents, “You guys are going to meet your maker,” the report said. Deputy Dist. Atty. Ken Barshop has since identified it as a paring knife.

As Kurt Tonnessen called police, Michael attacked his mother, and when the father returned to aid her, he too was stabbed in the chest, the report said.

Both parents were able to escape their house to the front yard, where neighbors reported seeing them bloodied and screaming. “Help me. My son just stabbed us,” Kurt Tonnessen shouted to his stunned neighbors.

Kurt Tonnessen, 53, an Emmy-winning television cameraman who works for “The Tonight Show,” was released from Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital on Monday, hospital administrators said.

Michael Tonnessen, who has been convicted of at least three prior alcohol-related offenses, is due to be arraigned on murder and attempted murder charges July 3.