WEST BROOKFIELD, Mass. -- Exactly two months after a mother and her three children were murdered in their central Massachusetts home, there is still no arrest.
Sara Bermudez and her three children were found murdered in their West Brookfield home and police have not named a suspect.
Matthew Locke, who is related to the murder victims in this case, is charged with lying to police about the investigation, but is not charged with murder.
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Boston 25 News reporter Bob Ward spoke with a woman who knows Locke very well and she wants to set the record straight. The woman, whom we are not naming or showing, is the mother of Locke's second child, a 9-year-old boy.
She does not believe Locke could have possibly killed Bermudez and her three children.
"Never. Not in a million years. Matthew is not in that state of mind. I don't think Matthew could be in that state of mind to walk into a house and do that to his own family, ever," she told Boston 25 News.
Locke is a first cousin to Moses Bermudez, Sara's husband and the father of her three children. Moses was in California when his family was murdered, but public speculation has turned to Locke.
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"If that's what police think, I don't think they should think that," she said.
Locke's relationship with the mother of his child was strained in the three years they were together.
Twice, she took out restraining orders against Locke claiming he got physical with her and threatened her life.
EXCLUSIVE: In West Brookfield murders investigation, former partner of man charged w/ lying to cops tells me she regrets taking out 2 restraining orders against him, and says Matthew Locke is no killer. @boston25 6pm #truecrime pic.twitter.com/NZitcJYibm
— Bob Ward Boston 25 (@Bward3) May 2, 2018
Bob Ward asked her, "Did Matt ever threaten to kill you? And you took that as a serious threat?"
"I didn't. I didn't. I wrote that for the statement."
She's now taking back those accusations. Ward asked her why she wrote that in the restraining order.
"I wanted to make sure I got it. Because I wasn't sure what the outcome would be. I wanted to make sure, at the time, I could get away from him," she said.
She says she regrets taking out those restraining orders and that even back then, she feels they could have worked it out.
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Last week, Locke smiled and waved at the woman when he appeared in court. She said, that's the Matt she knows; a guy who has made mistakes, but is no killer.
"He is a gentle soul. He's just had problems like anybody else, but that was a long time ago. That was eight to ten years ago and people can change," she said.
The woman also told Boston 25 News that Locke recently got his GED and certification for other jobs and that he's been helping out in parenting their son.
She says she truly believes he has turned his life around and had nothing to do with the murders and that eventually, even the charge of lying to police will be dropped.
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