NC man posted on X he might kill his father. 13 days later, police say he did.
Almost two weeks before his father was fatally stabbed, a Durham man made a chilling post on X.
“I MAKE THE ASSERTION THAT I WOULD BE FINANCIALLY SOUND RIGHT NOW, NOW SHOULD MY FATHER THREATEN TO KICK ME OUT, HAD HE NOT ACTED DISGUSTINGLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY HARMFULLY TOWARDS ME,” the user RZLXVII wrote in a Feb. 24 post. “HIS ACTIONS TOOK THE FORM OF THEFT AND DISTRIBUTION OF TOXIC SUBSTANCES THROUGHOUT A LIVING SPACE AND ON MY PERSONAL BELONGINGS.
“HE SHOULD ALREADY BE DEAD,” the post continued. “THIS ASSERTION IS MADE SHOULD A LEGAL DEFENSE BE NECESSARY IN THE CASE OF MY MURDERING HIM SHOULD THINGS BECOME VIOLENT.”
Thirteen days later, police say, 26-year-old Ryan Mark Lord stabbed his father, 65-year-old Kenneth Lord, to death in their Durham home.
Police were called about 10:30 a.m. March 9, The News & Observer previously reported. Search warrants indicate Ryan Lord called 911, telling the operator “his father had went [too] far and that he had stabbed and killed him.”
A blood-covered Ryan Lord answered the door for responding officers, according to search warrants. His father was found dead behind the living-room couch from multiple stab wounds, and Ryan Lord reportedly told police he’d stabbed him in the neck and chest, the warrants state.
“The suspect told investigators that he used his father’s phone to contact 911 after he washed his hands clean of all the blood,” one search warrant says.
In a 911 call provided to The News & Observer upon a public-records request, Ryan Lord calmly outlines to the operator what took place.
“My father went too far, and I had to kill him,” he says, sighing. “I’m looking at his body.”
When asked what preceded the altercation, he claims his father “disabled [his] vehicle and stole [his] cellphone,” which Ryan Lord believed “wasn’t reasonable.”
“He came into my room. I was sleeping,” he says. “This was about 40 minutes ago. He took my phone. He asked me where my car keys are. I didn’t tell him.”
But Kenneth Lord apparently found a spare key, his son tells the operator, and the car no longer would turn on.
“He was sitting on the couch,” Ryan Lord recounts. “I came up behind him and stabbed him in the neck.”
His mother told police “her husband had been documenting behavioral issues they had been having with their son” on his phone, another search warrant states.
Court documents don’t describe those behavioral issues, but after speaking with Ryan Lord, police identified his X account, which offered a glimpse into the conflict between father and son.
“HE JUST DID SOMETHING TO MY [EXPLETIVE] LAUNDRY DETERGENT,” a Feb. 25 post reads. “THIS HOUSE IS WEIRD GIVE ME MONEY SO I CAN BUY A NEW CAR AT LEAST LIKE $40K JUST DO IT...”
The account features dozens of posts begging for a luxury car and money, as well as assertions that the poster is an omniscient entity and in charge of the universe. In a Feb. 11 post, Lord asks his followers for a “large knife” in addition to the car and says he is broke.
Kenneth Lord, a former attorney, retired in July and moved to Durham in October, according to his obituary. He had a doctorate of philosophy in geology and a law degree from Cornell University, where he met his wife of almost 30 years. The couple had two children, a daughter and Ryan, the obituary states.
Ryan Lord is being held in the Durham County jail without bail. He is set to next appear in court in April.
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 8:19 AM.
