In 2012, Lakewood Ranch, a small neighborhood in Manatee County near Sarasota, was struck with tragedy when a woman was found stabbed to death with multiple knife wounds to her throat inside her garage.
“It’s my mom,” said Thomas Gross. “She’s murdered,” he yelled as he tried explaining to dispatch that he found his mother, Ina Gross, dead.
Ina’s body was found lying on the ground near her car and her own kitchen knife was feet away covered in blood.
Investigators realized there was no sign of forced entry and ruled Ina’s son was the killer.
“I feel guilty,” Gross said from inside prison during an exclusive interview with NBC6, “that I didn’t hear anything. I feel guilty that I wasn’t protecting my mother.”
Gross grew up in the United States, but before entering his thirties, he moved to Israel. The now 70-year-old would often fly back and forth to visit his parents, like in 2012 when he flew back to honor his dad, Dr. Samuel Gross, a highly esteemed leader in the field of hematology oncology, who died of sickness.
Gross joined his mother for a ceremony to celebrate his father at the University of Florida, where the late medical doctor was known for his cancer research.
That ceremony trip was memorable, for the wrong reasons.
“I found my mom dead,” Gross said. “We were late to leaving for the airport. She was supposed to awakened approximately 4:00 in the morning so we could leave at 4:30. That obviously didn’t happen. It was horrendous because I couldn’t believe it.”
Gross’s version of that night changed constantly, according to police.
Shockingly, Ina’s vomit was discovered inside her car which was parked in the garage. Toxicology determined the vomit contained high levels of Ambien, a sleeping medication.
Prosecutors believe Gross killed his mother for financial reasons. The victim was reported to have assets in excess of $4 million, according to records.
Gross had a history of financial difficulties, according to his sisters, but he denied that to NBC6.
By 2011, Ina had advanced her son more than $500,000 from his inheritance, according to records.
“It breaks my heart to know I can’t keep lending you money, ” Ina told her son in an email.
The kitchen murder trial
Police believe Gross tried to stage a suicide by drugging his mother, but it failed, and he ended up killing her.
In 2022, after hearing all of the evidence, jurors convicted Gross of murder in the first degree, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Gross has denied the murder. His claims consist of accusing other people, attacking the police investigation, and demanding his case be retired in front of a new jury.
Investigators told NBC6 they ruled out other suspects.
“I know they got the wrong guy because I’m not. I’m not the guy,” Gross said.
Describing parricide offenders
NBC6 spoke to Dr. Kathleen Heidi, a clinician who has spent her life researching parricide, the act of killing a parent. Dr. Heidi has interviewed more than 50 parricide offenders.
Dr. Heidi breaks down parricide offenders into four types.
- The severely abused offender: The most common who kills out of terror or in desperation. They kill to end the abuse. In their eyes, there is no way out other than murder.
- The severely mentally ill: This offender suffers from a long history of serious mental illness that has been diagnosed. The offender might have hallucinations or delusions.
- The enraged offender: This offender could be could be fueled by alcohol or drugs.
- The dangerously antisocial offender: This offender kills for selfish reasons. The parent becomes an obstacle for what they want like freedom or money.
Dr. Heidi said money could be a reason to kill your parent.
“That would be under the dangerously anti-social, but absolutely money can for some offenders, be the driving force,” Dr. Heidi said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
