PALMER TWP., Pa. – A Nazareth man has pleaded guilty to shooting and killing his wife’s parents.

Xiaomin Fei pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of Robert and Gretchen Ackerman, according to a news release from the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office.

The DA’s office said Fei was sentenced to two life sentences to run consecutively in state prison without the possibility of parole.

On June 3, 2025, Palmer Township police responded to a domestic disturbance on Glasgow Way. While en route, officers learned that a second 911 call had been made by a woman stating her husband was going to kill her and her children, the DA’s office said.

Officers made contact with Fei at the front door, with a firearm in his possession, according to the news release. The DA’s office said the officers secured the weapon and took Fei into custody.

Officers then went into the home and found the victims, Robert and Gretchen Ackerman, who both had gunshot wounds to the head, according to the DA’s office.

The DA’s office said both victims were later pronounced dead.

Further police investigation revealed that Fei was married to the Ackermans’ daughter, who was at her parents’ home with her two young children at the time of the shooting, according to the news release.

Fei went to the home on Glasgow Way, and when he was denied entry, he got a hammer from his vehicle and broke a window to get into the home, the DA’s office said. 

Fei confronted Robert and Gretchen Ackerman in the kitchen before shooting and killing them, according to the DA’s office.