25-60 Years in Prison for Man Who Killed Mother

By Jack Tobias

A Bethlehem man who pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the 2012 beating death of his mother and the assault of his father was sentenced this morning to 25 to 60 years in state prison, according to a published report.

But Michael Lindgren, 52, will first serve time in a state psychiatric facility for the Aug. 21, 2012, murder of Shirley Lindgren and the assault of his father, J. Ralph Lindgren, at their Bethlehem home, The Express-Times reports.

At Lindgren's sentencing in Northampton County Court, his older brother and sister-in-law spoke in his defense, saying ineffective treatment led to the brutal assault, the story said.

Shirley Lindgren, 77, a former Bethlehem Area School Board member and a founder of the Bethlehem Special Olympics, died of her injuries the day after the assault. J. Ralph Lindgren, 79, a retired Lehigh University professor, survived despite bleeding from his nose and ear and fractured eye sockets and ribs.

According to court records, police responding to a burglar alarm at the Lindgren couple's Central Historic District home found the son walking out with his hands, feet and pants covered in blood. An officer who detained him heard Lindgren spontaneously mutter: “I had to kill them.”

Twenty minutes earlier, Lindgren was inside the Bethlehem Police Station under City Hall asking for help, but he became agitated and left, police said.

Today's sentencing by Judge Michael Koury was for charges of third-degree murder and aggravated assault. Lindgren entered the guilty plea Aug. 23 -- two days after the first anniversary of the incident.