MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – A meat market owner accused of fatally stabbing his parents nearly three years ago was released from a suburban Detroit jail Tuesday after a judge changed his bail.
At an emergency bond hearing earlier in the day, Macomb County Circuit Judge Richard Caretti said he will Ronald Jabalee Jr. to post bond.
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Carettie said Jabalee could leave prison if he posts a $1 million bond, wears a GPS tether, undergoes drug testing and cannot have any contact with witnesses who testified before a grand jury last week.
He was charged with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder in the October 2006 deaths of his parents, Christine and Ronald.
Watch:Download: Jabalee Murder Arresting Document
Prosecutors said Ronald Jabalee is a Vicodin abuser and had taken 14 tablets when he was arrested Friday at the family businesses, just hours after a grand jury wrapped up meetings to decide if charges were to be levied in the case.
Prosecutors said money seems to be a motive in the fatal stabbings.
"It appears that one of the reasons why the investigation has taken so long is, aside from looking at every possible tip and every possible suspect out there, is that there appears to be some financial motives involved," Smith said. "We're looking at bank records ..."
The couple?s death gained national attention after detectives revealed that months after the initial investigation, a message that read ?SSEUIC? was written in Christine Jabalee's blood. The message was found next to the couple's body.
There has been much interest in interpreting some letters left in blood on the garage floor by one of the victims, but it wasn't the "linchpin" in whether to file first-degree murder charges against Ronald Jabalee Jr., said New Baltimore Police Chief John Bolgar.
The homicide perplexed police because nothing from the home had been taken.
A grand jury is rarely used by Michigan prosecutors to investigate crimes. But in this case, it was used to compel testimony from reluctant witnesses, county Prosecutor Eric Smith said.
"If you don't testify ... you can be held in contempt," he said.
Defense lawyer Stephen Rabaut said Jabalee is "absolutely" not guilty. His next court appearance is July 6.
"My client had a very close and loving relationship with his parents. He misses his parents. It's devastating to him," Rabaut said of the charges.