Where Is Rickie Kananen Now?
The name Richard Alfred “Rickie” Kananen Jr. is one that sits uneasily beside his sister’s; Stacey Kananen. Once part of a quiet Orlando family, Rickie’s life spiraled into infamy after being convicted of killing both his parents, fifteen years apart.
His story, retold in the Lifetime movie “Monster in the Family: The Stacey Kananen Story,” directed by Jessica Harmon, traces the decades of abuse, resentment, and revenge that culminated in tragedy.
As of 2025, Rickie Kananen remains incarcerated at Zephyrhills Correctional Institution in Florida, serving a combined 30-year prison sentence for the deaths of his parents. His expected release date is June 16, 2029.
Who is Rickie Kananen?
Rickie Kananen, born Richard Alfred Kananen Jr. on April 18, 1956, is an American man convicted for the murders of his parents, Richard Alfred Kananen Sr. and Marilyn Theresa Kananen, committed fifteen years apart.
He grew up in Orlando, Florida, alongside his sisters, Stacey and Cheryl, in a home marked by years of domestic violence and abuse. Rickie often claimed that their father was physically and emotionally abusive toward the entire family, a trauma that shaped his later actions and strained relationships.
Despite a troubled upbringing, Rickie’s crimes would shock even those closest to him. In 1988, he killed his father and buried his remains under the family home, a secret he kept for over a decade. Years later, in 2003, he murdered his mother and attempted to conceal her body in the backyard of his sister Stacey’s house.
His eventual confession exposed a deeply fractured family history, one that became the basis for the book and Lifetime movie, “Monster in the Family: The Stacey Kananen Story.”
Rickie Kananen Wiki
- Full Name: Richard Alfred “Rickie” Kananen Jr.
- Date of Birth: April 18, 1956
- Age (as of 2025): 69 years old
- Place of Birth: Orlando, Florida, USA
- Parents: Richard Alfred Kananen Sr. and Marilyn Theresa Kananen
- Siblings: Stacey Kananen, Cheryl Bracken
- Crimes: Manslaughter (of father), Second-degree murder (of mother)
- Sentence: 30 years in prison (concurrent)
- Facility: Zephyrhills Correctional Institution, Florida
- Conviction Year: 2007
- Projected Release Date: June 16, 2029
Rickie Kananen Killed Both His Parents Fifteen Years Apart
Born on April 18, 1956, to Marilyn Theresa and Richard Alfred Kananen Sr., Rickie grew up in Orlando, Florida, alongside his sisters, Cheryl Bracken and Stacey Kananen. Behind closed doors, however, the Kananen household was steeped in violence. Rickie would later describe his father as physically abusive; a man who regularly beat his wife and children and, at times, locked Rickie in a closet as punishment.
According to Rickie’s later confessions, years of suppressed anger drove him to commit his first killing in September 1988, when he murdered his father and buried his remains beneath the garage floor of their family home. The rest of the family assumed Richard Sr. had simply vanished. His disappearance went unreported, and life moved on.
The Murder of Marilyn Theresa Kananen
In November 2002, Richard Alfred “Rickie” Kananen Jr. reappeared in his family’s life following the death of his grandfather, Lawrence Regan Sr. He moved into Stacey’s home on Okaloosa Avenue, which she shared with her roommate, Susan Cowan.
Less than a year later, in September 2003, Rickie killed his mother, Marilyn, after an argument linked to her continued cashing of his late father’s Social Security checks; a crime that had accumulated an estimated $100,000 debt to the government.
Rickie later transferred about $60,000 from Marilyn’s trust fund to his personal account and held a yard sale with Stacey, selling off their mother’s belongings.
When Cheryl Bracken, the eldest sister, noticed their mother’s disappearance, she contacted the police; setting off an investigation that would uncover one of Florida’s most disturbing family secrets.
Confession, Arrest, and Attempted Suicide
As detectives began questioning both siblings, inconsistencies mounted. Shortly after an interrogation in December 2003, Rickie Kananen and Stacey Kananen attempted suicide through carbon monoxide poisoning. Detectives, already surveilling them, intervened and rescued both.
In custody, Richard Alfred “Rickie” Kananen Jr. confessed to killing Marilyn and burying her body behind Stacey’s house. That same week, police unearthed the remains of Richard Sr. from under the garage floor of the old Kananen family home.
Rickie then implicated his sister, claiming she was involved in both murders; a statement that would later form the basis of Stacey’s arrest and 2010 trial.
The Trial and Sentencing
In May 2007, Rickie Kananen pleaded no contest to manslaughter in connection with his father’s death and second-degree murder for his mother’s. In exchange, prosecutors reduced his charges and secured his testimony against Stacey.
On May 1, 2007, he was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter and 30 years for second-degree murder, to be served concurrently. During Stacey Kananen’s trial in March 2010, Rickie testified that Stacey had allegedly tased their mother while he suffocated her with a bandana. Despite his testimony, Stacey Kananen was acquitted and found not guilty.
Where Is Rickie Kananen Now?
As of 2025, Richard “Rickie” Kananen Jr. is serving his sentence at Zephyrhills Correctional Institution in Zephyrhills, Florida. His projected release date is June 16, 2029, when he will be 73 years old.
Following his incarceration, Rickie has kept a low profile, with no verified public statements or media interviews since his sister’s acquittal. His story continues to be revisited through documentaries, news archives, and dramatizations like Monster in the Family, where he is portrayed as both victim and perpetrator; a man shaped by abuse who ultimately became what he feared most.
Lifetime’s 2025 biopic, “Monster in the Family: The Stacey Kananen Story,” now looks into Stacey Kananen’s story, in full; premieres on October 11, 2025.
Stacey Kananen, now 59, born 1966, is married to her wife, Susan Cowan, with whom she now lives in Largo, Florida. Rickie Kananen, on the other hand, remains incarcerated at Zephyrhills Correctional Institution in Florida, and would be released June 16, 2029, at which point he’d be 73.
