Behind the Scenes: TV Reporter Greg Floyd’s Viral Interview Where Son Confessed to Killing Parents

What happened to your parents? So did you kill your parents to as a mercy killing to put them out of their misery? I want to hear from you. Yeah. What did you do to your parents?

I buried them in their property.

You suffocated them. You suffocated your parents?

Yeah.

That was the best way to take.

Their lives through suffocation, basically. You're a good question.

Hey there. Welcome to the PR Breakdown podcast. This is an interesting episode because we are mid viral story. Joining me is the guy who's all over the news this week, Greg Floyd.

Hi, Molly, who?

I said on social media this week, my guy, Greg Floyd. And so many people in the comments said, oh, that's so great for your colleague. And I thought people must not be following me.

We are colleagues.

Because we are colleagues. Yeah. So we are mid peak of this viral story that you were a part of. Talk about the intersection of our lives, just from a news story story, but also how it's covered, but how it intersected with us too, how it came up. So in this edition of the podcast, I had to bring you in to have a conversation, to bring you back to the podcast to talk about the story of the headline is the son who admitted he killed his parents to a television journalist. And you are that television journalist. It's viral, it's everywhere. And now you are here with me to talk about that story because it's a crazy story. Now anyone can find it online, it's on the WRGB website, it's on YouTube, it's everywhere. But this podcast episode is a different angle. One certainly the private angle of you and I working on it together. But I wanted to ask you about the angle coming from a journalist on the other side of it because I think it's interesting how the story came together, how you got this interview, how you got him to admit that he killed and buried his parents, then how it became a national story. And also if it's okay, how you're grappling with it.

Sure.

Okay.

That's a lot to unpack.

It's a lot. And we're going to get through all of this. So let's go back to the beginning, which I consider was it Monday when the story started? It was on Tuesday.

The story. You want me to take you through this?

Yeah.

On Tuesday. Basically on Tuesday, mid morning, a large array of police vehicles and official vehicles descended on Crestwood Court in Albany. Nice residential neighborhood in the city of Albany. The news media all found out about that. We all went to the scene and something was happening. All that the police would say was that it was a financial crimes investigation. It quickly became clear that it was a Social Security fraud investigation. And then it became more clear as the hours went by, something strange had happened at that home.

And you knew, and I'm saying this because I know, because you told me you knew that this was a big news story.

It was obvious that they are calling it a financial crime story, but there's digging going on in the backyard. They weren't digging for financial records.

Okay, so from a newsroom point of view, do you remember the time of day when this happened? Because at this time, you've had a number of people out at your station, so you're doing a lot of the newscasts. Did you find this out during the day?

Yeah, it was late morning.

Okay. And then did you report it that evening on the five and the six?

We did, but again, it was with circumspect. But we handle it carefully because we weren't sure exactly what was happening, and we didn't want to give the wrong information. We wanted to give less information. But correct information.

Yes. And so now to get into the private aspect of our relationship, every day I ask you about your news stories, right?

You do, yes.

And I always want to know what you're reporting on, what story you're doing, and what's the big news. And sometimes I definitely watch you on the newscast.

Sometimes you're ahead of me. You're on the computer. You're finding out what's happening in Albany before I.

True, because I'm on Albany Reddit, So. So I hear about things ahead of time, too. But you mentioned the story. You know about the guy. We didn't know the guy's name yet. And now I remember it. The next morning, on your way to work, what morning was that?

You told me it would be Wednesday.

Okay, so Wednesday morning, did they find bodies at that point?

No, they had not found a body yet on Wednesday morning.

But you suspected that they would, right?

Yes.

Okay. And then I asked you that morning, where's the Sun?

Because you knew that it was a son involved. And.

But. And you said right away, it is a son. It is a son.

The name.

And you knew the name. And so as soon as I get anything, Greg, what do I do with it?

Down the rabbit hole. Yep.

I immediately start typing. I start looking. First place I think I went to Reddit, I went to Google, obviously, is. I think I did AI as well. But where I struck gold was on LinkedIn, because he had a LinkedIn profile. He made A lot of comments. And he had even commented a week prior, which I wasn't expecting that. And when I looked at the commentary, I was telling you, because you were driving into work, I said, I see crypto, China, anti Semitic things, capitalism, and then the Philippines. So I said, greg, I think he's nutty. And this was really the first you were hearing about what kind of person he was.

That's. It all started unfolding then. And then later that day, more things unfolded. Yeah.

And you also, I remember you asking me, because I can tell when you turn on your journalist too, because then you were asking me, okay, where did he go to school when you really wanted that bio thing? So here's a question I have for you. Are you someone? Do you put bio points together and build a story? Just even from that?

At least you're planning on building a story. Yes. You want to give people whatever you can give them about what's going on.

Okay.

Person's background is part of that. Sure.

Okay. So now I really want to get into more about how the story grew. So from that point that day, I didn't speak to you all day. What happened next?

That day, Wednesday, is when they found the first set of human remains in the backyard of this home. And that was widely reported that night, Wednesday night on our station, other TV stations, other media outlets. And the story was growing by the minute or by the hour.

And it was a pretty competitive story in the market, obviously.

Of course.

Yeah, yeah. And I was following along on Reddit and a lot of people were asking questions about it as well. So now, Thursday morning, what was happening.

On Thursday morning, late Wednesday, they found the human remains of one person. By Thursday morning, they had found a second set of human remains, believed to be the parents, Franz and Teresa Krause, who lived there, not officially identified even still, but now they have two sets of human remains. So the police hold a news conference to announce that. And that was at 2 o' clock on Thursday afternoon.

Okay, and then what happened then after.

That news conference, the son, Lawrence Kraus, contacted us. I believe he contacted other media outlets as well. He sent us an email requesting that we publish his two page statement that he had come up with nothing to do with the things that were happening at that home, at that family home, but again, more of what you had seen online, his thoughts politically and globally and how the country should be run and things like that.

Who did he contact? Is it like a general news line?

Like news? He emailed it to our news email address. Yes.

Okay. Okay. So then from there. And I didn't even ask you this yet. It comes in. Who tells you so what time is it? And who tells you what's happening?

That's well after 2 o', clock, well after 3 o' clock even. And our news director, Stone Grissom, who had the email in his hands, had. I don't know if it was on there or not, but he got his phone number and he called him and he got through to him and said, listen, we will grant your request, we will publish this two page manifesto if you will come over here and do an interview. And Mr. Krause said, okay. He acquiesced and said, sure, I'll do that. And. And the next thing we know, he tells us he's driving toward our station.

I didn't ask you this. So when he sent the email asking for the manifesto, he didn't call it that. He just a statement, a statement to be published. What did he want from it? What was transaction?

Yeah, he wanted his thoughts out there. I think he saw this is his chance. Gosh, I'm in the news now. Here's my chance to get my theories out there.

So at this point, was the police already saying his name in connection with it or he did he just know the gig was up. And that's why I just think he.

Knew that he was in the limelight. So he wanted to capture that limelight and have a chance, have a vehicle to get his thoughts out that he thought were important to him and important for people to hear.

Okay, and here's the reason why I'm asking. It is because when you interviewed him, it did not appear to be a guy who wanted to admit or confess to killing his parents.

He did not made that clear to our news director, Stone. He said, I'm taking the Fifth on anything about what happened with my parents.

I know he said that in the interview with you, but he said that. Oh, he did.

So we knew when he was coming over that he was not coming over to confess. He was coming over to talk about his statement.

Okay, so Greg, so now you have. I know it was reported that you had 10 minutes to prepare, but I remember when you were telling me about it at the time, you had no time to repair.

I think it was probably the last time. Yes, because he was about to walk in the door any minute. My news director had just run to my office and said, are you up for doing this? Can you do this? And I said, of course. And it was basically just throwing my jacket on and getting down to the lobby. Where we were setting up for the interview.

Okay, so let's get into the Broadcast News esque part of this. You need to run down and do this interview, but you're also doing a broadcast interview. And did you know at that time it was going to be a big video interview? Like technically you're doing an interview?

Yes, I knew it was going to be on video and important. Sure.

Okay. Because the aspect. And there are a lot of questions on Reddit. Not a lot of people made a comment, but a couple on Facebook and Reddit people noticing that you did not have socks on.

In full disclosure, I had knee replacement surgery recently. So I've been wearing sneakers.

Yes.

With my suit. And I did not want to go on camera with sneakers on. So I got out to my car quickly and got on a pair of comfortable black shoes at least. And yes, I.

It's not trivial. I know.

I don't think this is that important.

But let me tell you why it's important. Okay. And I. Because I mentioned Broadcast News, which of course is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's one of yours?

Sure.

Why does Broadcast News, the movie sing is because people love the behind the scenes. They love that. God, who was Albert Brooks in it? What was his name? Anthony?

He was sweating that.

Yeah, for sure. No, I can't remember what his name is. I don't remember either. Oh, it's aa. It's alliterative. It will come to me in three hours. But I. I think it is interesting because it shows news is happening. You have to make a choice. You're a news anchor. You're going to be on camera juggling a lot of stuff at once. And so you had to sacrifice not having the socks.

Well, it was virtually no time at all to get that done. And I'm thinking about things as I'm doing it. But again, I believe that going into that interview with no time to prepare, no time to write out questions, no time to start researching what I did and didn't know, but not going in with prepared questions, I think is what made the interview successful because we sat down, the camera went on and we just started talking.

And I'll say this from knowing you, you are the most prepared person I know. You prepare for everything. I do nothing. And when I'm not prepared, you note it. You're very patient with me because I am not at the level of you.

I generally do stories about government waste and politicians and have to confront them and I want to have the facts straight. And yes, I go in Very prepared.

Yeah. So when I was watching your interview, I don't think I told you this, but it's funny. I saw you sitting down because I have to look at you first. Is my point different? Like, how does he look? And then I immediately notice you don't have socks on. But I know why I'm not judging you, because I know you don't.

Are we close to the part of the podcast where we stop talking about the lack of socks?

No. What I notice is all those black shoes. Remember what you.

I just don't want to trivialize.

No, we're not. But what I'm saying is, because this is a viral story, and we're not trivializing it, but it's comments online, people care about and what people notice, because I am in that world, I look at these things. So I'm not diminishing the weight of the story and how important it is. And I'm not criticizing you, but I'm just saying from the personal point of view, what it's like to be inside our relationship is one. I cannot believe what I'm watching. Like, just knowing that we were talking about this guy, researching this guy, I went down the rabbit hole in this guy as well. And then knowing. When you said to me that he came in to confess, I'm like, this.

Guy, he didn't come in to confess. He came in and he confessed.

No. Yes. That wasn't the intention. But you told me you'll never believe you know what happened. But it actually shows how quickly, though I knew you had to put it together. That's what I could tell. Because you hadn't told me you had no time to put it together. When I saw the video for the first time, I had zero expectation. None. And when I saw you, and I'm like, damn, this guy. Put this together like this. And even in the beginning, when you're sitting down, as you were getting ready to talk, I was watching you noticing. I'm like, this is fascinating because I know you so well. You normally have notes out. You have your notepad, and you're so prepared and you're so rehearsed. But your interview had a different cadence. And that's what it was, is because it really was fluid. Because you weren't prepared.

Exactly. I just introduced him, and I think the first question was, let's go back to August of 2017. Tell me what happened. And we spent eight minutes going back and forth, and he had no intention of confessing and mentioned the Fifth Amendment a few times.

So did you know that right away, when you were sitting down with him, did it even occur to you that you were sitting across from a killer?

Yes.

It did occur to you.

Yes.

Were you ever worried about your safety?

No, because I got caught up in the moment, and I was laser focused on talking with him, making him feel comfortable, and taking him where I thought he wanted to go.

Okay, so pace with me on this very slowly, because this is interesting to me, because you and I didn't even talk about this. How tall the guy is this guy?

Oh, he's probably six feet. You're taller than five' 11. Six feet.

Okay, now, this is gonna sound silly, but is part of the reason why you weren't concerned about your safety is because you're taller than him?

No.

It just never occurred to you?

It never. No.

Okay. And then what about. Did anybody worry about. I think I read in an article that he did get patted down.

He was patted down by my news director, who just wanted to make sure everyone was safe.

Okay, so then when he was sitting there talking to you, like before, when you started in there, tell me what was going on in your head, you as a reporter, are you already putting the story together or you in this case, is it different?

It was somewhere between the two, yeah. Oftentimes, as I'm doing interviews, I'm thinking, am I getting what I need out of the interview? Am I getting the right information? The information that's going to help our viewer, help the story move along here. I knew I had to get to one place. I knew that I had to get to the place where he admitted killing his parents, would tell us how he killed his parents, why he killed his parents, and then what happened after.

And then this manifest or the statement, you didn't have time to read it?

I whipped through it quickly. I didn't care. The statement meant nothing to me and means nothing to anyone in Albany. But story is what happened in that house on Crestwood Court eight years ago.

But did the statement do anything to say what his state of mind was like? That you were dealing with the sane person or an insane person?

An interesting, different person? I'm not a doctor. I don't know. I did ask him at one point in the interview if he was on any medication, if he felt he was of sound mind.

Yeah, you did.

He answered that he was not on medication, that he was of sound mind. And clearly he's a bright individual. He's a very bright individual. But again, I felt that he wanted to tell the truth at some point. It's been all these years, he's clearly hidden what happened all these years. It was coming to light. Now let it come fully to light.

Do you think it was more about telling the truth or getting it off his chest?

Combination of the two, yeah.

And you know what's interesting today as well is you and I were watching CBS Sunday Morning. They did the story about Ted Kazinski and Ted Kaczynski's brother who turned him in. And the story just intersected with this guy in a way.

In a way, yeah. Beautifully told story on cbs.

It was an incredible story. But going back in time to what Ted Kaczynski did, he was the Unabomber, which I don't remember Unabomber being university. And did you remember that?

I do. Yeah.

You do, because you're a journalist.

It's also a big story in Albany because David Kaczynski, the brother, was working in Albany at the time that he turned his brother in.

But the intersection of it, because Lawrence Krauss was an intelligent person and he graduated, if I remember correctly, at the top of his class at Siena. You're a smart guy. So it does have that kind of element, though he didn't hurt other people different than Ted Kaczynski. His crime was literally at home with his parents. So now as he was telling his story, could you tell right away that he was dodging, that he didn't want to tell the truth, or did he.

Want to get there? Any time that I got anywhere near what happened, yes, it was dodging, and I don't want to talk about that. He invoked the Fifth Amendment a couple times.

I have to plead my Fifth Amendment rights until I can disclose it with my statement there. I have to protect my Fifth Amendment rights on this.

But I said, you understand, I'm not an officer of the law. I'm not an officer of the court. I'm a journalist. So you can tell me what happened.

Which I thought was very good when I was watching it. So when it aired. So were you just sitting in the studio when it aired?

Yeah, I saw it for the. Obviously I lived through it, but I saw it for the first time on our six o' clock broadcast. We just put a brief portion on at five o' clock and then we devoted our entire half hour at six to running a 24 minute version of the interview. The first 24 minutes of the interview. And then I sat transfixed like I think many other people did. Okay.

I didn't ask you this question before, but there are a number of people on Reddit On Facebook, under the comments and everything, asking is Greg Floyd? Okay, that was one.

I appreciated that people asked that.

Yeah, Yeah.

I thought it might have been a traumatic event for me.

They understood the gravity of it. And I never asked you this question. I'm asking you now. You were obviously at the anchor desk watching it back. Right. What were you thinking? What was happening to you at that moment?

Like with any interview, you don't remember the entire interview, even something of this magnitude in nature. First thing I do after doing an interview, if it's for one of my political stories, is I go through the tape. I go through the video and start making notes and pulling out sound bites. And for me, in essence, that was what this was, my first chance of really seeing it. Because when you're in it, you don't remember everything you said. Everything he said. I was not taking any notes, as I often do in other stories. You might take notes as you go along. I was not taking notes because I was laser focused on him and what he was saying and what I could say in reaction to what he was saying.

Were you understanding when you were watching it from a news coverage point of view, did you think, this is a different story? This story has a lot of weight. Are you. Is your brain even going there yet?

It was not. It was not. My brain was going, I need to find out what happened in that house. As I've told other people. Two people die. Two elderly people who their son described as children of World War II passed away. And I just. It still. It affects me. It hits me as I think about this. I think about the parents constantly.

When I was watching it, of course, I'm watching it for you, naturally. I'm watching how you're doing. I'm predicting what you're going to say. And a couple times I told you this, like I predicted what your question was going to be. I think I know you so well because you are such a good journalist. And I'm not saying this as your girlfriend, I'm saying this as you really are. I think you're an exceptional journalist, and I knew that you were going to handle it well. And it's not to make the whole ordeal trivial, but I'm watching it from a viewer point of view. And I'm also watching it from the news coverage point of view. In my mind, I'm thinking, does this story go viral? Does this story go national? And then I'm listening for sound bites, and then I'm also listening for strategy from you. I'm watching, where is Greg Going with this, because this was a long interview, was like 37 minutes, something like that.

I mean, it took me eight or nine minutes to get to the point where he admitted his crime.

Yeah. And from the beginning, like he said, one of the quotes is, I did my duty to my parents.

I did my duty to my parents. I did my duty to them as a son. They don't have the same kind of sense of duty to their parents as I did.

He kept talking about duty, and I felt like he wanted to justify euthanasia in some sort. What did you think he wanted to do at that time with sitting down and talking to you?

I think initially he just wanted to talk about his political views in a statement. And I never let him go there.

You never let him go there?

No, we weren't going there. But then at some point, I believe that he did want to get this out, that he knew that it's done, that his time is up, that we're going to find out what happened. So why not come forth and tell us what happened? And I phrased it that way a few times. But to answer your question before or your thought process before, I wasn't thinking this was going to go viral. I had no interest in that. This is not a Victory Lab. This is. We're just deconstructing what happened because there's a lot of interest in it out there. But, yes, at some point, I believed he wanted to go there and that I had to take him there.

Yeah. But the whole point of this episode, and what you and I have been talking about too, is naturally, this is my point, point of view of it. That's how I'm looking at it. I'm not the journalist sitting there trying to get the story out. I'm the viewer who's transfixed by this story, and then also the girlfriend. But also I'm in issues management. I'm looking at him wondering, I see what this guy's trying to do. I thought it was fascinating watching the strategy behind what he was doing, but watching the strategy behind what you were doing as well. That is what was most interesting to me is I felt that he was trying to deflect. Like he never wanted to confess to killing his parents. He wanted to be the son who is dutiful and helped his parents.

And he was setting that up. He was talking about what he saw as them being growing more and more infirm, deteriorating. The examples he gave didn't sound like examples of people who were near death. It sounded like people who, yes, were deteriorating. But not to the point where their lives needed to be taken, not that their lives ever should need to be taken, but that a son could justify the taking of their lives out of his love for them in a merciful setting. It just didn't seem like they were at that point, obviously they didn't deserve to die. And that's something that motivated me too, is that I just felt like we needed to get justice for these people.

Okay. And I didn't ask you this before, but I felt watching you that you were becoming the voice of the parents. Like that you were the guardian of the parents in a way.

Maybe a little bit, yeah.

And I think now, just the last few days of you processing this. Do you think that's what's weighing on you is the parents?

I that's. I do think about that, yes.

You think about them, don't you?

Yeah, yeah, I do.

And without.

And I'm glad that the world is thinking about them.

Yeah, they're getting there. They're getting their justice. It was seven and a half years that he. Eight years, eight years that he got away with this. And what really didn't come up from him at all is there was no justification between I needed to get my parents out of their misery. But also cashing checks for almost eight years.

Yeah, I'm no expert and I haven't studied this yet since then, but my general feeling is that when they're, when mercy killings do occur that they are not covered up, that the killer believes they acted correctly and they go to the authorities and tell them what happened. My parent was near death and I wasn't going to let him or her suffer another minute. And I took their life. And they're often treated with some degree of compassion. And obviously this is a debate that goes on in this country, in other countries all the time, but that just didn't seem to be the case here. It seemed more cold blooded to me. But what I was saying is that he never turned himself in. He committed this supposed, in his mind, mercy killing, but didn't turn himself in. Covered up his actions, buried them in the backyard, kept cashing the checks. He said he was giving the checks to charity in the Philippines. We don't know if that's, we don't know if that's true, but he clearly knew. And I asked him, we talked about a little bit, but didn't get as far as I wanted to go with that. If he knew what he did was wrong. And he said he didn't feel it was wrong, but he obviously knew it was wrong in the sense that legally it was wrong because he was covering it up.

And because you are an accountability journalist, you're known in Albany for your series. You paid for it. I think that's what you were doing in this interview, but you were doing it on behalf of that parent.

Oh, sure. We were holding him accountable.

Holding him accountable. So, as I mentioned when I was watching the interview, okay, I'm listening to sound bites. I am listening to sound bites. And honestly, I'm thinking, okay, this is an incredible story. These are the types of stories that go viral while I'm also watching you. And then for a short part of it, I was videoing my reaction to watching you for the first time, because I thought. And I said, greg, this is incredible. I really thought this was the pinnacle of your career. It's incredible. It's not reported a lot, but a lot of people on Reddit and locally in Albany know you're retiring soon, at.

The end of the year.

I am, yeah. It's incredible. But I don't think you can retire until there's some resolution there because these parents got to you.

That's true.

They got to you. So here's one of the bouts. The sound bites, like, when you would say something, I said, this is what's going to go viral. Quote, when your parents died, did they know what was happening to them?

When your parents died, did they know what was happening to them?

Right. And do you remember what he was saying there?

He said, they did, yeah.

And then this is the quote that went everywhere. Like, I think every news article that I've read that you've been in, where they've captured it, they said from you, and they knew it was at your hand. When I heard you say that, I thought, okay, remarkable, because I felt, and tell me if I'm right or wrong about this. You didn't want to be harsh and say, did you kill him? Did you strangle? Like, you didn't use those hard words. You were coming up with softer versions to get him there. Am I accurate with that?

I think you're accurate. I was trying to be polite to him and have a civil discourse. And yes. And at that point, too, I didn't know I was in the dark. I didn't know how he killed them. So I guess that it was either with some kind of drug or poison or a suffocation. I was envisioning possibly using a pillow to just suffocate them if they were so infirm. That would be you.

And I never talked about this. This point of it is that when I was watching you, I thought, does he know how he did it? We were watching you think in real time, trying to figure out how he did it.

And when I think I said, knew it was at your hand.

Well, yes. No one else's.

That was the confession, Greg, that was unbelievably compelling video watching that. That was incredible. When he said that, I sat there, said, he just confessed. You got him to confess.

And I think then after that, I asked him how he did it. Yes, I said, because I've only watched this once, I did not want to watch it, I will watch it again. But I have not watched it again since. So every line is not fresh in my head, but I believe. Then I said, did you use some sort of poison or drugs? And he said, no. And I said, did you suffocate them? And he just put his head back and went, were there drugs involved? Was there a suffocation? Was there? You suffocated them?

Yeah. My gosh, Greg, that part of that interview was astounding. People don't normally hear people for the first time say it out loud. I think that's what it was. That was the first time he confessed it. And also when you were bringing him there to explain what he did, he.

Said, my father might hand from a mother a rope.

So he, as he put it, he denied them oxygen.

My father died very quickly. Like surprisingly quickly.

You know, I think my father died very quickly, surprisingly quickly.

And he also.

He said after that that the mother then put her head on his chest.

My father and he. After he died, my mother put her head on his chest.

I think that's the part that got you there. That's when it started to sink in with you.

The next line is the one that really got me. And I said, then did you kill her? And he said, not for a few hours. Later, I finished her.

She was there for a few hours, and then I finished her.

It was that line, I finished her, that had to go on, Greg.

That's why this interview is. And I know you at a much deeper level than most people know you. And I know how you want to report stories. You always want to get to the truth of the matter. And I knew you wanted to get. There's no way he was leaving without confessing to what he did. But watching it, that's when I noticed. I thought, it's those parents are getting to you.

It's that.

I think that was like almost in a way, it was like driving you to get justice. For them, too. Have this guy take accountability for. Okay, so then did you know at that point when he admitted it, what did you think?

I thought, I've got to keep getting more information.

Really.

It wasn't like, okay, you've admitted it. Interview over. No, I. We kept talking. I keep going back to. I wanted to know, when did you bury them? How long were they in the house? They were in the house for days before he buried them. How long was it before you buried them?

Approximately two or three days, actually.

And why did he. How did he choose to do that? And how did he do it? And he talked about that, and we covered that ground, and I thought it was important to hear more details about that. I remember thinking, especially as soon as it was over, did I ask enough questions? Did I go to enough places? Did I get enough background on him, enough background on his parents? But people seem to think that we got just what we needed.

It really was in the fact that it was 37 minutes. But you also did. Now, I did a social media post about that afterwards. And I think one of the reasons why that video works so well, why the interview works so, is you let him speak. You let him go when he was talking about his parents, but whenever he wanted to talk about the statement, you allowed him a beat or two to keep him involved, but you wouldn't let him go much further. You cut it. It's like you had no time for the statement. And then also you said, nowhere here in the statement does it say that you admit to killing anything, like you were cornering him and pressuring him. It really is incredible. Do you feel like you brought justice to the parents?

Partial justice? Obviously, the court will do that. So, yes, in some way, yes.

Do you feel any guilt?

In some ways, yes. What? It's still, obviously, I don't have any doubt in my mind that he killed them in cold blood and they didn't deserve to die. But I still have. I've done stories before with politicians who have done bad things with money, who have cheated the taxpayer to have money and have gone to prison as a result. But they didn't go directly to prison after my interviews. That was part of the process. And there were, in this case, he was arrested in our parking lot the minute he left me. And I think about that, that this man is now behind bars right after he told me what he did. And I don't want to sound like I'm soft or anything, but I think about that he's in the right place. He's where he should be. No doubt about it.

So a man went to jail at your hand and that makes you feel it just guilty for his fate?

It doesn't make me feel guilty. It just makes me think.

Makes you think that someone's life, the trajectory changed because of something that you did in life.

But you know what? It changed because of what he did, not what I did. It changed because what he did and.

He was going to jail regardless at some point. Yeah. Now, what about the arrest at the station? Now, did you know that was going to happen as soon as he left the station?

I did not know, but we were aware that he was being followed and surveilled and that the police knew he was at our station.

How did the police know he was at your station?

Because they were following him.

Oh, because they were following him in the car anyway.

Yes. And our news director had. Did talk with the police because he wanted to make sure everyone was safe and that we didn't do anything to jeopardize what the police were doing.

Did you know he was going to get arrested as soon as he walked out the door?

I did not. But I looked out the door and I saw quite a few officers out there and I put two and two together.

Were you shocked? No, weren't at that point. Okay, so what time was he rested? What time?

It was about 4:35 or so.

And you went on the air at 5, right. So someone in your newsroom had to turn. Like a producer had to turn that around.

Yes. And it. Which is also a little tough with our system. You had to get the whole 35 minutes into the system and then turn it around. I'm on the news desk at 4:58, 4:59, and the producers talking my ear and saying, it's not there yet. It's not there yet. It's not there yet. And I'm thinking, oh, my Broadcast news, Aaron, it got there.

Yes. Okay, but really, this is straight out of Broadcast News when Joan Cusack was running the tape down and everything. So when you went on the air at 5, you knew that you had the tape and they. At five they just did a clip of it, right?

We did a couple of minutes of it, yeah.

And then did you know then at six you were going to run the entire interview?

Yes.

Okay, so then that night it hits. So what is your newsroom like as soon as you get off the air from anchoring?

Everyone was astounded. I found out that something was going on, that something was happening with this interview organically and virally right away at 6 o', clock, my phone started blowing up and people are writing to me and saying, wow, my jaw's on the floor. I just. I can't believe what I just saw. I'm hearing that over and over from people from all walks of life, friends, acquaintances, the politicians who I confront at the Capitol. As I told you, I was up until well after midnight because I was just trying to be polite and answer all these nice emails and texts that I was getting. Yes, I just struck a chord with people. And that's when I said, there's. This is more than just a news story.

And you never really thought about the story itself from the coverage piece of it. That's. That was me. That's what I was doing. And I noticed too, when it happened, I thought, this is going to be a national story. But I was curious, how long does it take? Because a headline, son confesses to killing parents to a television journalist is on camera. That's an incredibly compelling story. And even the New York Times. So now, fast forward. Friday morning was the next morning. I think the first place where we saw it was. It went to other affiliates. They picked it up. The New York Post picked it up. And I went, ah, there's the first viral hit that I saw. But then on Saturday, you and I were driving and that's when I had you listen to the New York Times article. We found out. I made the New York Times. And you loved this.

I just thought their first line was very descriptive, that's all. I just thought it was a good piece of writing.

Yeah. But the reason why the New York Times story was so good is that it set the scene.

Right.

You know, that it's just two people sitting there in two chairs, tan armchair. Yeah. That they even picked up that details as well. Now talk to me quickly about the jailhouse interview that came.

So on Friday, he was arraigned in Albany City Court, where he pleaded not guilty, as you basically must do at that point. And he was sent to the Albany County Jail. So I immediately texted the sheriff of the Albany County Jail to say, listen, is he there yet? And if he is, can you ask him if he'll do an interview? And I got a response back very quickly saying, interviews ago. So we.

Were you shocked?

I was.

Now, did other news outlets do the same thing?

I had a feeling they would. And so we race over there. As we are walking in, there's another news outlet pulling in behind us. So I was the first one there. And we set up in the room where families get to meet with Inmates, you know, in a heavily controlled situation. The guards were there.

Hold on. Have you ever done a jailhouse interview before?

Not in a long time.

Okay.

A long time. Okay, so we're set up. As I was setting up, I saw a man in a suit walk out of a room that's set aside for lawyers to meet with their clients. And he was meeting with a young woman who was an inmate at the jail. And when he walked out, he gave me a wave and a nod, and I gave him one back. And we get set up for the interview. And I see out of the corner of my eye, that man in a suit is standing there. I didn't know why. I ask Mr. Krause one question, maybe two, and all of a sudden I hear, that's it. The interview. Was it a loving relationship you had with your parents?

Not in a loving. I wouldn't characterize it as loving, this interview.

And I said. Turned around and said, respectfully, I thought that the woman who was with him in court this morning was his lawyer. And he said, we work together in the public defender's office. The office is his lawyer. And I am ending this interview. And I say to Lawrence, do you want to end the interview? And he said, no, I can keep talking. So I just went right back into talking as if the lawyer, how did.

You know to push back on that?

Because I'm sitting there with him, and I didn't feel good that this man was really his lawyer, to be honest.

Yeah, okay.

All right.

You were pushing it.

Yeah, it worked. And we kept talking, and I asked probably six or seven or eight more questions. And then I asked him something again, very specific about the crime. And the lawyer basically said, I'm not quoting him exactly correctly. He said, that's it. This interview's over. Lawrence, stand up right now and walk out with me. And at that point, Lawrence did. And Lawrence, again, as he was talking a couple times, referred to the lawyer, looked over at him and said, I don't feel right answering with him. And I said, you don't do whatever you feel, but I'm gonna keep asking you questions. And so we finished that interview. It was a much shorter interview.

Yeah, but.

But what came out of that interview was that we talked about his relationship with his parents.

Yes.

And he told me that it was. It was a harsh relationship. And I asked him if it was a loving relationship, and he said, no, it was not. Was it a loving relationship you had with your parents?

Not in a loving. I, I, I wouldn't characterize it as loving.

That was the part of that interview that I thought was astounding because you were. Again, you were going back to the parents. You were going back to the family life also. What drove you to ask that question?

Because I just wanted to know more about his parents. And he gave me very perfunctory answers about his dad, was he worked at GE and his mom tried to be a teacher, but that didn't always work out. But I just heard something. The way he was talking, it just didn't sound like the way a person talks about their parents. So I asked him about the. I just asked about the relationship. He may have been offered something at first, and then I just went with it. I don't remember for sure.

Yeah, the jailhouse interview was just as interesting to me. You said, this is to Lawrence, since you told me yesterday that you killed your parents. Do you feel a sense of relief today? And this answer surprised me. Not any extra relief? No, not at all.

But then I asked him again, and he said there was some relief.

But the first time, though, he said no. That surprised me.

Yeah, it surprised me, too. That's why I asked the question a second time.

Really? Oh, see, now that's just good journalism there. And that's also when he started to go down the rabbit hole. He said, I appeal to ancient German law. I'm making the claim that I'm the initial trustee of the New York State Board of Trustees. And that's why I'm thinking in your head when I'm watching, going, you don't care about any of this.

I think my response to him, he said, I'm pleading to be tried through that Board of Trustees as a. And I said, that's not going to happen. No.

And again, and I know you're a journalist. You do not let emotions come in. You don't. But these parents got to you when you said this quote. But who are you to decide other than being their son? Can you play God? You did not. It's as if this arrogance of him and what he did to those parents sat so poorly with you. You are not letting him get away with that.

Yeah. And I wanted to ask. And that right around there is where the lawyer cut it off, somewhere around there. Because I wanted to ask more specifically, how does a person know the end of life is near and that if I allow them to live another day, they're going to be in horrible pain? Or I guess I never believed that they were anyone. Not that I believe in mercy killing. That's a whole different thing. And it's not for me to say if it's good or bad, but I just don't think this is anywhere near the level of where your typical mercy killing might be, if that makes any sense. And I don't want to say the wrong thing here, but I know you don't.

I don't want to say it's a personal story to you, but there's a personal aspect to you to the story that you're processing as you do it. Wouldn't you agree that? I've known you a long time. You've done a lot of stories. This one has affected you in a way that most stories really don't. You just get to the truth of the matter.

Most stories don't have this subject matter.

Yeah, it's. It's those parents and also.

And sitting face to face with the.

Person who did it.

A killer. Yeah, I should be saying as a journalist and alleged killer. But he told me he did it.

And now the DA's involved. Governor Kathy Hochul spoke about it when her statement, quote, this is so beyond the pale to contemplate the hatred in someone's heart. Now that. So what's the next phase of the story?

There's still forensic evidence to be gathered or analyzed. Autopsies have to be done. We don't know the condition of the remains, what they'll be able to determine, and then the legal process will have to play out. I don't want to get into anything about whether this will be used as part of the legal process. I don't know. I don't know what he has said to authorities since I talked to him twice. They could have been meeting with him all weekend. We'll find out more on Monday. But it's a legal process to play out and we'll have to see. Apparently he doesn't have money. That's why the public defender, at least for now, is defending him because he claims he gave his money, the money that he was getting from Social Security, at least away. There'll be a lot to play out here. But the legal process, it's a slow process and it'll take some time and let's just hope they get it right.

I think you didn't. An outstanding job. I watching it from the viewer point of view. I think Lawrence knew what he was doing. I think it's a financial crime. I think he's into crypto. I think he knew what he was doing. I think he was sane. Mine. I don't think he had a good relationship with his parents.

And you're not going to make it on the jury.

No, they will not be calling me to be on the jury at all. But you and I were talking about it on Saturday. We were having a nice dockside lunch in the way. Yeah. Decompression going through, reading all the articles and talking about it. And I thought if anyone was listening to us right now, they're thinking, what are these two people talking about? But we were reading the different articles and what sat with us, because like you, the parents, it just feels like these parents clearly did not deserve to die. And his narrative is that they were infirmed and they were almost ready. I was taking them out of their misery. But it was the tomatoes. The New York Times brought up the tomatoes. What was it about the tomatoes that got to us?

It's thinking, if a person is planting tomatoes, they're certainly capable of living in a fairly rich life. They're not at the end of life.

Exactly. They have plans. They have plans for. Tomatoes don't grow overnight. They go through the season and they're.

He said that his parents were implying that they wanted it to be over. No, you don't plant tomatoes when you want your life to be over.

I know. And then when we were buying tomatoes at the farmer's market today, honestly, I was thinking, and I didn't want to bring it up because this morning you had this dream, like this guilt dream, but it's like, I don't know that you're doing your job and you always do your job. You are the best journalist I know. But I think these parents, you want accountability for these parents.

And we'll see what happens.

Yeah. All right, Gregory, let me do a journalistic trick, if you will. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

No, I think we covered it pretty well. You can see the interview on our YouTube page, our CBS 6 Albany YouTube page, because I think after hearing this podcast that if people haven't seen it, it might behoove them to check it out. And.

Yeah, I'll put a link in the.

Show we're talking about, basically.

Yeah, absolutely. And tomorrow you're scheduled. We don't know if it's going to happen, but you're scheduled to do an interview with CBS Morning, correct? Yeah. So they're going to do a story about that. And I think there are a lot of comments on social media. One, some asking if you were okay, many saying that you're an incredible interrogator, that you should go into police work after this. That's what I think. Overwhelming. Most People said, some people question the involvement of a journalist. And now none of this is admissible in court because he pled the fifth and you were asking him questions. But this is where I give you credit like that, that you were juggling this entire interview and you said, I'm not. What were your words?

I think I said, I'm not a officer of the law. I'm not an officer of the court.

Yeah, exactly.

I'm just a journalist.

Yeah, that was good. And, Greg, I am going to sing with the chorus of everyone else. That was an incredible interview. And so it's one thing to watch it as a viewer and someone who watches news and follows news and tracks it, especially viral news, but also as your partner in life. I was so proud of you.

Thank you. But again, it's important to me that this is not seen like you and I talking about this or anything I do when I talk to people. It's not a victory lap.

I know you won't take it as.

One because it shouldn't be, because the stakes are too high here. Again, it's the deaths of two people who went through a lot in life and just, I don't think, deserve to have their lives ended at that point. And I just don't think we can forget that. That this. We can't revel in any way about this interview because of what brought it on.

No. But what we can point out, which is what I wanted to point out in this episode, is from a journalistic point of view. And also there are news editors right now who are likely showing this interview to young reporters. This was. It's an overused word, but it really was a masterclass in reporting, in uncovering a story, in finding. Trying to find accountability through asking questions. And, Greg, I appreciate what you're saying, and I understand, but I will say it on your behalf, even though I know you don't want it. It was astounding journalism to watch it happen in real time. It really was.

And if people can learn from that, I'm fine with that. That's great. I just don't want it to be a case where we're taking credit.

I don't think anyone is. And your station isn't, and you definitely are not. I can say that from behind the scenes, it's weighing on you. But also, I think you're just happy that when it's journalism done the right way. Would you agree?

Sure, I'll go with that.

Yeah. And also, these were two people who. Some people were curious about them and wondering about them. But for almost eight years, nothing was done for these people. And now there is justice for them.

I also wonder if it might make people think, and I know you want to wrap up here, and I thank you for giving me the time, but I also wonder if it might make people think about keeping a closer eye on their neighbors.

Yes.

Not that anyone on that street did anything wrong, but this couple was there one day and gone the next. And I don't want to criticize any neighbors. And I believe that Mr. Kraus had told them that his parents moved back to Germany, but it might not have hurt to contact authorities then. Not that that would have stopped the killings, but I just think it's a good idea. I just think it's a good reminder to keep track of your neighbors, to keep track of the elderly, of seniors, but just that, yeah, we are all in this together. And if you can keep track of people and be a good neighbor, maybe that's a lesson learned here. Yeah.

And you're not spending a lot of time in the comments. I am. On social media. I think you're right. It. There's that story that's there because a lot of people talked about that. And the New York Times did really good reporting and your station did as well, interviewing the neighbors. Neighbors knew, but they thought it was odd. But then again, in society today, not everybody gets into people's business.

You don't want to stick your nose in other people's business.

Exactly.

But maybe a little sticking your nose in a little bit of the business.

Might not be concerned when it concerns you. But Greg, here's another little narrative that came up in the commentary. So many people talking kids, sandwich generation as caregivers, what it's like to be a caregiver to parents at that stage. And so many are saying how hard.

It is, but what he did is not the answer. Find your help.

Yes, But I think what people did when they watched it, and so many people, let's say this in the comments, they watched every minute of that interview, watched it. And I read a lot of the comments about people who were taking care of elderly parents, and they all said the same thing. Yes, it's hard work. Yes, it's hard on the soul, it's hard on the body. But obviously you never do that to your parents. But that's where they felt that he was so culpable of guilt because there's just a different amount of care. Even though it is a burden to kids, there's still so much care there. You would never even think you know, of that, and I think that's what.

But I would stress there's help out there.

Yeah.

And you have to find it.

So thank you for sharing your side of the story with me. But also in this podcast that you could bring in the kind of inside perspective inside baseball from a journalist point of view. It's a hard story, it's a heavy story, but it's still just a new story too, right?

It is, yes.

Yeah. And I appreciate you letting me bring the private side out as well.

That's okay. We're a team.

Yes, exactly. All right. So, Greg, where can people find this full interview? I know I have it in the show notes, but where is it? Also?

It's on the CBS 6 Albany YouTube page and on our CBS 6 Albany website, on our Facebook page as well. So it's out there in quite a few places. But there's I think a 24 minute version and I'll 30 something minute version as well.

And there's also the jailhouse interview as well.

Right.

Yeah. Both of them together. So if you're in our full coverage.

Too, other stories that we did leading up to it and that we've done since.

Yeah. So this isn't the end of the story. I think it will definitely have a life at your station, but it's also going to have a life in true crime. I think that other people are going to highlight the story in the future. So you did a good job, Greg.

Thank you for the help.

All right, that's for this edition of the PR Breakdown podcast. Thanks so much for listening.

Bye for now.