What to Know
- The body of Robert Coult Jr. was found near the Philadelphia Country Club in Lower Merion Saturday morning.
- Coult Jr. was last heard from Friday.
- On Monday, Robert Coult III, the victim's son, was charged with first-degree murder and held without bail.
A son allegedly beat and stabbed his father to death during an argument over money then dumped the body near a Main Line country club in a murder case that spanned two suburban Philadelphia counties.
Delaware County District Attorney Kat Copeland joined Montgomery County DA Kevin Steele and Yeadon, Haverford and Lower Merion police Monday to announce homicide charges against Robert Coult III of Yeadon in the death of Robert Coult Jr.
The 59-year-old elder Coult's body was found by Philadelphia Country Club employees on the side of Spring Mill Road in Gladwyne Saturday morning. An autopsy found he died by blunt force trauma and stabbing, Yeadon police said.
"In this case the defendant brutally bludgeoned and repeatedly stabbed his own father to death," Copeland said.
The younger Coult repeatedly struck his father over the head with a hammer during an argument over a small amount of money in the living room of their Yeadon home, then went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and stabbed his father, Copeland said. Once the elder Coult died, the younger Coult used an electric saw to try to dismember the body but was unsuccessful.
Coult then allegedly loaded his father as a passenger in his car and dumped the body along the golf course.
The younger Coult, a 30-year-old resident of Yeadon Borough in Delco, was arraigned on criminal homicide, first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and related charges on Monday morning and sent to Delco jail without bail.
Police responded to the Coult home on Providence Road in Yeadon Sunday afternoon after the elder Coult was reported missing, having last been heard from during a Friday evening phone call with his girlfriend, police said.
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Investigators spoke residents of the home then zeroed in on the younger Coult who was then arrested and charged. Coult III confessed to killing his father and told investigators he dumped evidence in various spots around Haverford Township, police said.
Investigators also found blood splatter evidence in the home and found video evidence that shows Coult III's movements.
Coult III didn't show any remorse, investigators said. He even allegedly played video games with his roommate's boyfriend in the hours after the killing.
The younger Coult claimed his father pushed him down a flight a stairs before he killed his dad, Copeland said.
Coult III faces life in prison. It was unclear if Coult III has an attorney who could comment on his behalf as he was taken to the jailhouse in cuffs Monday, he called reporters "vultures."
