Mequon man pleads guilty to killing parents

Dennis Markov

Previous Coverage

• Nov. 14, 2011: Judge rejects bid to move Mequon murder trial
• June 29, 2011: Mequon man pleads not guilty in parents' slaying
• April 24, 2011: Son accused in fatal shooting of parents arrested last year in similar dispute
• April 23, 2011: Friends remember slain Mequon couple's motivated attitude
• April 21, 2011: Mequon killings were over $5 in gas money, complaint says
• April 20, 2011: Son held in slaying of parents in Mequon

A 21-year-old Mequon man pleaded guilty Friday to killing his parents in the family's home after they refused him $5 for gas, and faces a likely sentence of life in prison.

Dennis Markov was charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the April 17 deaths of Victor Markov, 45, and mother Larissa Markov, 39.

Police found the couple shot to death in the garage of their home in the Ville du Parc subdivision after Larissa Markov's co-workers reported that she hadn't shown up for job at Alexian Village retirement community.

Dennis Markov was also there and told police he had shot his parents, who had emigrated from Ukraine when their son was about 6.

The case had been set for trial Jan. 27, but a judge last month denied Markov's attorney's motions to suppress statements Markov made to police and to have the trial moved to another county. Plans for a change of plea were filed Tuesday.

According to Mequon police records, Markov had a history of drug use and disorderly conduct in the four years before the murders.

Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Tom Wolfgram set a Markov's sentencing for March 2. Prosecutors will recommend Markov not be eligible for supervised release for 60 years.