NEWTON, Mass. — Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says 41-year-old Christopher Ferguson has been arrested and charged in connection with the deaths of three people in a home in Newton over the weekend.
Ryan said during a press conference Monday evening that Ferguson was placed under arrest shortly after 7 p.m. The evidence at the crime scene, including a footprint in blood, helped connect Ferguson to the crime, according to Ryan.
Gilda and Bruno D’Amore, 73 and 74 respectively, and Gilda’s mother, Lucia Arpino, 97, were stabbed to death in their home.
Ferguson is charged with the murder of Gilda D’Amore after her autopsy came back and was ruled a homicide.
Additional murder charges are likely after the other two autopsies are conducted, said Ryan.
“We know that Mrs. D’Amore suffered over 30 both stab and blunt force trauma injuries, primarily to the upper part of her body and head.” Ryan said in a Monday night press conference. “There were obvious signs of struggle in one of the bedrooms of the home including broken furniture and a crystal paper weight covered in blood.”
The bodies of Gilda and Bruno D’Amore, celebrating their 50th anniversary, were found in a Broadway Street home in Newton when the couple failed to arrive at church Sunday morning, police said.
The pastor and community at Our Lady Help of Christians Church sent a letter to their church community on Monday and first identified the three people killed.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share that the terrible tragedy that happened yesterday in Newton hit very close to home,” the victims’ relatives said in the letter.
When they never showed up to the church, it was a parishioner who went to their home to check on them and made the gruesome discovery.
“We ask for your prayers for them, most especially for their three children and their five grandchildren.”
Police said there were obvious signs of forced entry into the home on Broadway, including broken glass and missing screens from the basement windows.
Ferguson was identified with help from a neighbor’s video, which the DA says caught him walking on Albemarle Road, around four-tenths of a mile from the victim’s home around 5:20 a.m. on Sunday morning.
A lab was also able to identify a footprint Ferguson allegedly left in the home, Ryan said.
A special Mass of Peace is planned for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Our Lady Help of Christians Church, 573 Washington St. in Newton.
“Following the conclusion of communal prayer, the church will remain open for a period of time for those who wish to continue their prayer,” the church said.
Lauraa Bortlin, who lives around the corner from the victims, told Boston 25 News that although Lucia was in her late 90′s, she would walk around the neighborhood and talk to people.
“Just such a kind, sweet person. I can’t believe this happened to her. I’ve heard that it’s a gruesome scene as well which—how you could do that to a 98-year-old lady and the husband and wife as well,” Bortlin said.
Ryan thanked local agencies and members of the community for providing support to the church community during this difficult time.
Ferguson will be arraigned in Newton District Court on Tuesday.
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