Last fall, Cameron Richard Terhune found out he couldn't join the Navy because of mental health problems and was under mounting family pressure to get his life on track, his friends said.
He was struggling to find a job and told people he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Terhune, 24, is now in jail awaiting trial in his parents' deaths. Diane Terhune, 56, and Ken Terhune, 65, were found shot to death in their Del Rio home Jan. 15. They had been killed two days earlier, according to court records.
Terhune has pleaded not guilty. He returns to court Friday.
Several of Terhune's friends say he had never been violent, although he was "slipping mentally" after a recent series of disappointments: He dropped out of several colleges; had a disillusioning reunification with his birth parents; suffered romantic frustrations; and faced mounting mental health problems.
He told friends he struggled to control schizophrenia, migraines, depression and anxiety. They blame the medications he was prescribed for causing the violence.
"I don't think Cameron was in his right state of mind in January," said Candice Graves, 18, of Oakdale. "He's not a bad person. He loved his parents."
One family friend said Terhune's parents had started to pressure him to take more responsibility for his life and help pay for his most recent attempt at college. Terhune, the friend added, tended to blame others for his failures.
"It always seemed to be someone else's fault," the friend said. "He always told people what they wanted to hear. His parents finally stopped believing him."
Diana Martinez, 22, of Oakdale said she argued with Terhune just days before the killings because he had been drinking while using prescription drugs.
Another friend said Terhune confessed to him one day after the killings.
"His words were, 'I broke up with my girlfriend and I killed my parents,' " said Paul Guerrero, 23, of Modesto. "He jokes around. I just thought maybe he was joking."
Guerrero said he has talked to Terhune in jail, and Terhune told him he doesn't remember the killings.
"He said he knew what he did by looking at it," Guerrero said. "He says he doesn't remember. I said, 'When did you think this was wrong?' "
Guerrero said Terhune responded, "When I stopped blacking out, I realized what I was doing was wrong. It was already too late. They were already on the ground."
Notebooks full of 'everything'
To his friends, Terhune was a giving person who never expected anything in return. He was passionate about making music, watching films and drawing. According to Jacob Andrew Dodge, 22, Terhune has filled more than 50 notebooks "full of his imagination, stories, real-life trauma, etc. Just everything."
But Terhune had a hard time making good choices. Friends described him as passive and reserved.
"Cameron's always struggled," Guerrero said. "He worked at different things, went to different places, and nothing ever worked out. Every time he would give his heart out, it would get stomped on. That's the type of person he was."
They described his relationship with his adoptive parents as respectful and affectionate.
"He never raised a hand to me or a voice to me in the three years we were together," said Martinez. "This is the first time he's ever had an outburst."
In July, Terhune signed up to join the Navy but was released from that obligation in the fall.
"He was really depressed about being discharged," said Martinez. "He said this was his last chance to succeed."
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