Mental fitness exam ordered for Algonquin double murder suspect

An Algonquin man accused of killing his mother and stepfather in November will receive an evaluation to determine his mental fitness at the time of the murders.

Maxim Parnov, 36, who is being held on $5 million bail in the McHenry County jail, is charged with six counts of first-degree murder and two counts of concealment of a homicide in the deaths of 56-year-old Elvira Almen and 64-year-old Peter M. Almen.

Parnov is accused of causing "blunt-force trauma" in the killings that took place in the couple's Algonquin home on Nov. 29. He then placed his mother's body inside a freezer and his stepfather's body inside a cabinet and loaded them inside a U-Haul truck, according to the indictment.

He then fled to Wisconsin, where he was arrested days later by Kenosha County sheriff's deputies at a home in Salem, authorities said.

"Mr. Parnov has a background of suffering from mental health issues in the past," Assistant Public Defender Angelo Mourelatos wrote in his motion requesting the evaluation, which was granted Thursday by Judge Michael Coppedge.

The couple and Parnov had been arguing around the time of their deaths, authorities said, though it is not known publicly what they were arguing about. A well-being check was made at the house when Peter M. Almen did not show up for work.

Parnov is due back in court May 26.