Philadelphia man accused of fatally stabbing dad with sword

LANGHORNE, PA -- A man stabbed his father to death with a sword at his parents' suburban Philadelphia home after declaring that he wasn't going to let his father control his mind anymore, investigators said in court documents.

Eli Goodrich was arraigned Wednesday on criminal homicide and weapon possession charges in the death of 67-year-old Alan Goodrich on Tuesday.

Eli Goodrich, 26, who recently moved to Philadelphia with his fiancee, was on a weekly visit to his family's Middletown Township home when his mother heard him arguing with his father.

"You are not going to control my mind anymore," he told his father, according to court documents. "I have to kill you."

Eli Goodrich told his mother he loved her, went downstairs and stabbed his father in the stomach with a "long-bladed sword," investigators said.

When his mother came downstairs, she found her husband sitting in a chair with a sword protruding from his stomach and Eli Goodrich standing next to him, the court documents said.

"Don't worry mom, it's a fake sword," Eli Goodrich said, according to court documents. "It collapses."

He then pulled it from his father's stomach, covered in blood. Alan Goodrich died less than an hour later at a hospital. It wasn't clear what their dispute was about.

A message couldn't be left Wednesday at a number listed for Eli Goodrich. Court documents don't list an attorney for him.

He was being held without bail.