The man accused of fatally stabbing and bludgeoning his sister and her husband in El Cerrito said in court Wednesday that the couple's son had "cleaned up his life" since his parents were "eliminated."

"How's your life been since all this happened?" Edward Wycoff, 40, who is acting as his own attorney, asked his nephew, 20-year-old Eric Rogers, during cross-examination in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez.

"Incredibly difficult," Rogers said, looking squarely at his uncle.

The exchange came moments after Wycoff greeted his nephew by saying, "Hello, Eric." Rogers simply nodded.

Wycoff is accused of killing Rogers' parents, Paul Rogers, 48, and Julie Wycoff Rogers, 47, on Jan. 31, 2006, at their home on Rifle Range Road.

Authorities say Wycoff killed the couple because he thought they were too liberal, they were raising their children wrong and they hadn't invited him over for Christmas. If convicted of murder with special circumstances, Wycoff could be sentenced to death.

In the courtroom of Judge John Kennedy on Wednesday, Wycoff asked Eric Rogers: "Didn't you think it was strange that after my dad died, that everyone was invited for Christmas except for me?"

"I wasn't aware of that - I wasn't there for Christmas, either," his nephew replied.

Wycoff repeatedly tried to ask Rogers if he had experienced any "problems with the law" before and after his parents were killed - and blurted that his nephew had been an alcoholic at the age of 15 - but prosecutor Mark Peterson objected on the grounds of relevance.

When Kennedy asked, in the jury's presence, whether he wanted to explain the relevancy, Wycoff said, "Yes, I'll tell you why. The parents raised these kids wrong. Since the parents were eliminated, I think Eric has cleaned up his life."

Kennedy barred Wycoff from asking the questions.

During his opening statement Tuesday, Peterson told jurors that Wycoff had hoped to adopt his nephew and then-12-year-old niece, Laurel, after the killings. The victims' third child was living elsewhere at the time.

Under questioning by Peterson, Rogers said he and his sister awoke about 4:30 a.m. the day of the killings to crashing sounds in the hallway. He said he saw a man dressed in black and wearing a motorcycle helmet struggling with someone.

Moments later, Rogers said, he found his father lying face down in an "enormous" pool of blood in the master bedroom. A knife was stuck in his back, and Laurel Rogers was tending to him.

"I stroked his hair with my hand," Eric Rogers testified.

Paul Rogers told his children, "I love you, no matter what," his son testified.

He said he had replied, "I love you too, Papa."