May 19, 2024
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Algonquin man pleads guilty to 1st-degree murder, gets 50 years in prison

Maxim Parnov admits to killing step-father, murder charges for killing his mother and concealing both bodies in U-Haul dismissed

By Amanda Marrazzo
Police investigate at the residence of 408 La Fox River Drive on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Algonquin. The bodies of a man and a woman were found about noon Wednesday after a well-being check on La Fox River Drive the day before, according to Algonquin police. Maxim Parnov, inset, was later charged with first-degree murder and concealment of homicidal deaths.

Police investigate at the residence of 408 La Fox River Drive on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Algonquin. The bodies of a man and a woman were found about noon Wednesday after a well-being check on La Fox River Drive the day before, according to Algonquin police. Maxim Parnov, inset, was later charged with first-degree murder and concealment of homicidal deaths. (Northwest Herald file with inset provided by McHenry County Sheriff's Office)

An Algonquin man entered into a negotiated plea of guilty Monday to the first-degree murder of his step-father, but not his mother, and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

In exchange for Maxim Parnov’s guilty plea to killing Peter Almen, an additional charge for killing his mother, Elvira Almen, was dismissed among other charges, according to indictment filed in the McHenry County courthouse.

Had Parnov, 37, also been convicted of the first-degree murder of his mother he could have been sentenced to prison for life, according to the indictment.

McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis accepted the negotiated plea and set June 20 as a date for victim impact statements to be heard in the courtroom. He must serve 100% of his sentence.

Parnov, who had been held in the McHenry County jail on $5 million bond since his arrest after being captured in Wisconsin, is accused of killing his mother and stepfather on Nov. 29, 2021 in their two-story home located in the 400 block of La Fox River Drive, and hiding their bodies.

Parnov was initially charged with six counts of first-degree murder and two counts of concealment of a homicidal death, according to court records.

Parnov “inflicted blunt force trauma” on his 56-year-old mother and 64-year-old stepfather in the home they shared, causing their deaths, prosecutors wrote in the indictment.

Authorities said he then “concealed” his mother’s body in a freezer and his stepfather’s in a cabinet and loaded them inside a U-Haul truck, according to the indictment.

Parnov then fled to Wisconsin where he was captured a week later by Kenosha County sheriff’s deputies at a home in Salem.

Authorities said at the time of the killings Parnov and the couple had been arguing, although it is not known what they were arguing about.

A well-being check was made at the house when Peter Almen did not show up for work, authorities said.

Court records nor prosecutors have not detailed how the blunt force trauma occurred, where the U-Haul was found or how police were led to the U-Haul.

Parnov’s attorney Assistant Public Defender Matthew Feda declined to comment Monday.