Suspect Son Of Disgraced Former Bush Aide Kills Friend With Hatchet: Community Members Shocked

The 20-year-old son of a disgraced former aide to President George W. Bush accused by police of killing a friend with a hatchet.

Police charge that the aide's son confessed to killing a friend with a hatchet in his parents' garage. Claude Allen III, 20 was arrested in Gaithersburg, MD, a Washington, D.C., suburb on Friday. Allen has been charged with with first-degree murder in the death of Michael Harvey, 25. Friends and family members are stunned.

Allen's father, Claude Allen II, is a former Bush aide who resigned in a swirl of scandal after pleading guilty to theft, ending his political career. He was President George W. Bush's senior domestic-policy adviser.

911 operators got a call from Claude Allen III reporting a burglary. He told the operator that he had killed the robber. When police arrived, he led them to the woods, where the body was.

"When we arrived he was waiting for us," Capt. Jim Daly, a spokesman for the Montgomery Police Department, told press.

The parents were not home at the time of the call. Officers quickly suspected that the home wasn't broken into and that Allen and Harvey knew each other. They found the hatchet in the house. The incident began in the garage, authorities believe.

Both Allen and Harvey previously faced minor drug charges, but authorities haven't determined what caused Allen to kill Harvey with the hatchet. Allen also had at least two children and has been charged in at least two paternity suits.

Robert Rashford, a neighbor, is one of many shocked community members. "This is a great family. We are all taken aback by the circumstances," he said.

Seven years ago, Claude Allen II, now 52, was accused of stealing from Target and Hecht's stores.  In 2006, his political career ended when he pleaded guilty in the misdemeanor theft case. He's since stayed out of public and pursued charity work.