Man killed by officer gunfire after his parents found murdered in WVC home, police say

WEST VALLEY CITY — A West Valley couple was found deceased in their home on Wednesday afternoon. Investigators believe they were killed by their adult son who was then shot and killed during a confrontation with West Valley police.

The son, later identified as 35-year-old Erik Bertelsen, had just been released from prison last month.

The West Valley City Police Department said it received a 911 call just after 5 p.m. on Jan. 1, and officers found a mother and father dead inside a house. Police then learned of a confrontation between them and their adult son, Erik Bertelsen, who was later shot and killed by officers, the department said.

The victims were later identified by the West Valley City Police Department as 63-year old Terri Bertelsen and 67-year-old Kerry Bertelsen.

The investigation began about 5:10 p.m. when emergency dispatchers received a 911 call from a home at 3310 W. Enterado Ave.

“Officers responded and entered the home. Inside, they discovered the bodies of a male adult and a female adult who lived at the residence,” West Valley police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku said in a statement. “Officers also encountered the adult son of the deceased couple who also lived at the residence and is the suspect in the deaths of his parents. During the encounter, an officer fired on the suspect, killing him.”

Information on what prompted officers to shoot was not immediately released. The Salt Lake City Police Department will investigate the police shooting.

Vainuku said the Salt Lake City Police Department will be investigating the police shooting.

“At this time, we do not have a motive for the homicides,” Vainuku said.

But according to court records, a 35-year-old son who lived at the residence was known to police with his most recent arrest coming on Dec. 22. Late that night, West Valley police were called to 3310 W. Enterado Ave. after the man was spotted “running outside of his house and on the road in front of his house wearing only his boxers,” a police booking affidavit states.

When officers asked what he was doing and why, “he said that he used ‘a lot of meth,'” the affidavit says.

The arrest came just five days after he was granted parole from the Utah State Prison, according to records from the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole. He had been in and out of prison for parole violations on a fairly regular basis for over a decade.

In 2009, the then-19-year-old was arrested for throwing a party at the same house and started “displaying knives and a firearm while talking about killing people,” according to police. At one point during the evening, he got into an argument with a person at the party. He left the room but then came back “with his face painted black and displaying two large knives,” a police booking affidavit states. He walked into the room stating that “someone was going to be stabbed, the devil is here, and he is going to kill.”

The man was convicted in that case of two counts of aggravated assault and was sentenced to nine months in the Salt Lake County Jail and three years of probation.

But just a year later, he got into a fight with a former girlfriend at the same residence, would not let her leave, and threatened to kill her, according to charging documents. He was convicted in that case of kidnapping and was sentenced to another six months in jail followed by another three years of probation, court records state.

This is a developing story. It may be updated.

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Contributing: Shara Park and Jacob Freeman, KSL TV