Authorities in Massachusetts arrested a suspect Monday in a triple murder that shocked the city of Newton when it was uncovered on Sunday morning.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said that Christopher Ferguson, 41, had been charged with the murders of 73-year-old Gilda “Jill” D’Amore, her 74-year-old husband Bruno D’Amore, and her 97-year-old mother Lucia Arpino, WCVB reported.
Ryan said Ferguson is also charged with burglary and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury.
Ferguson was identified as a suspect when he was seen on video at about 5:20 a.m. Sunday, less than a half mile from the D’Amores’ home. He was shirtless and shoeless, Ryan said, and “walking with what appeared to be a staggering gait.” Officers who saw the video recognized him., and late Monday afternoon, a laboratory matched a footprint left in the home to Ferguson.
Ryan said only Jill D’Amore’s autopsy has been complete and that Ferguson will likely be charged with two more counts of murder once the autopsies of her husband and mother are complete on Tuesday. Ferguson is also expected to be arraigned Tuesday or Wednesday.
The murders were discovered by a friend of the family shortly after 10 a.m. when the D’Amores were late to Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians, where they were to be recognized on their 50th wedding anniversary and renew their wedding vows.
“Three beloved parishioners – salt of the earth people, just great, great people – and it’s a terrible tragedy,” the Rev. Dan Riley of Our Lady Help of Christians said.
Ryan said all three victims had knife injuries and blunt force trauma, and investigators saw clear signs of a struggle in one bedroom, including broken furniture and a crystal paperweight covered in blood.
“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 Monday night.
Investigators found evidence of forced entry in the home’s basement, Ryan said, including one open window and screens pried off others.
“The door of the garage, which was in the back part of the house, was also open and close to that door was one of the screens that had been torn from a basement window,” she said.
Bloody bare footprints were found outside the bedroom, and a knife with red and brown stains was found in the kitchen.
Ferguson was hospitalized after his arrest, but authorities didn’t say why. Neighbors who knew him said that he suffered from mental health issues.
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[Featured image: Jill and Bruno D’Amore, Lucia Arpino/family handouts]
