Couple is murdered just before celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary

A couple celebrating their 50th birthday were expected to renew their vows at Sunday Mass. Their family and friends waited, but the guests of honor did not come. Instead, she and another family member were found dead that morning at their home in the suburban town of Newton, Massachusetts, in what authorities described as a seemingly random attack.

The bodies of the couple – Gilda D’Amore, 73, and Bruno D’Amore, 74 – were found along with those of Ms D’Amore’s mother, Lucia Arpino, 97, with “knife injuries and blunt force trauma” at the hands of a friend who had left the service to check what was holding them up, Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan said at a news conference Monday night.

The day before, as authorities searched for the killer, Ms. Ryan had urged residents of the normally quiet town less than 10 miles southwest of Boston to stay vigilant and lock their doors.

And on Monday, more than 24 hours after the gruesome discovery, a suspect, Christopher Ferguson, 41, of Newton, was in custody and charged with murder, two counts of assault and burglary, Ms Ryan said. She noted that only Ms. D’Amore’s autopsy had been completed and she expected more charges to follow. “At this point, we don’t have any reason to believe it wasn’t a random event,” she said.

Authorities were called to the couple’s home just before 10:15 am after the friend called 911, Ms Ryan said, adding that Ms D’Amore suffered more than 30 stab and punch traumas, mainly to the upper part of her body and her head. Investigators found evidence of forcible entry into the home’s basement, including windows with their screens ripped loose and “clear signs of struggle,” including broken furniture and a crystal paperweight covered in blood, she added. “We also found a knife with red-brown stains in the kitchen,” Ms Ryan said.

Investigators have obtained video footage showing Mr Ferguson, shoeless or shirtless, staggering near the D’Amore’s home in the early hours of Sunday morning, Ms Ryan said. Forensic specialists were able to match his footprints with the bloody bare footprints they found in the house, she added.

It was not immediately clear on Monday evening whether Mr Ferguson had legal aid.

The killings shocked the town of less than 90,000 people and the congregants of Our Lady Help of Christians, the church where the couple’s family and friends gathered on Sunday morning. According to a letter Mrs. D’Amore, sent to congregants, was known for beautifying gardens; mr. D’Amore, for flipping hamburgers at parish picnics; and Mrs. Arpino, for rarely missing a Sunday Mass.

“With the sudden death of three beloved elderly parishioners over the weekend, we are deeply shocked and saddened,” said Dan Riley, the church’s pastor. said in a statement. “The pain of this tragedy is all too real.”

Alain Delaqueriere contributed research.