‘Going to kill you’: Plymouth man charged in dad’s murder told police he ‘snapped,’ prosecutor says

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — A Plymouth man charged in the gruesome stabbing death of his 73-year-old father allegedly told police that he had “snapped” when he was arrested Thursday following a manhunt across the South Shore.

Matthew Paluzzi, 26, was arraigned Friday in Plymouth District Court on a charge of murder in the death of Anthony Paluzzi. A judge ordered him held without bail after a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.

Officers responded to a home at 15 Cedar Street in the seaside village of Manomet around 6:30 a.m. after they received a 911 call from Wendy Paluzzi, who reported that she had found her husband unresponsive and bleeding from a laceration to the neck, according to Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz.

Investigators located Anthony slumped over dead on the couch with a “significant amount of blood around his neck” and found a bloody kitchen knife resting on a towel near the front door when they entered the home but learned Matthew had fled in Wendy’s black Nissan Murano, a prosecutor said Thursday in court.

A be-on-the-lookout alert for Matthew was subsequently issued and a manhunt that spanned multiple South Shore communities ensued. He was arrested hours later in the area of 198 Columbia Road in Hanover, still wearing a bloodstained sweatshirt and sweatpants, according to the prosecution.

Matthew initially told police that he would tell them “everything” before stating he was suffering from ongoing mental health issues and that he had “snapped,” the prosecutor revealed in court.

Surveillance video of Matthew Paluzzi's car being stopped in Hanover (Safeway)

After his arrest, police spoke with residents of the Cedar Street neighborhood including a woman who claimed she heard him yell, “I’m going to (expletive) kill you,” in August 2023. Matthew’s half-brother claimed that he said, “I can’t wait for Anthony to die,” while at a family party in July.

Wendy also told investigators that she noticed a “recent decline” in her son’s mental health and a “definitive change” in his behavior involving an uptick in marijuana use, the prosecutor said.

Wendy also disclosed that Matthew was previously hospitalized at two psychiatric facilities when his mental health “spiraled” following a criminal case stemming from a “seemingly random act of violence” in the drive-thru of an ATM, according to the prosecutor.

Matthew was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and threatening to commit a crime after pointing a firearm at a woman and asking, “Do you want to die?” in October 2020. He was placed on probation and ordered to undergo mental health treatment.

After the hearing, Cruz called the incident “tragic,” adding that it was “terrible” for the Paluzzi family and the community of Plymouth.

“Unfortunately, we live in a world where there are mental health issues all around us,” Cruz told reporters. “People should understand that this can happen to anybody. It doesn’t matter where your zip code is.”

Matthew is due back in court for a probable cause hearing on Oct. 2.

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