A couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death along with another elderly family member on Sunday.
The shocking triple homicide happened in the Boston area, about seven miles west of the city of Newton, Massachusetts.
The bodies of the couple in their 70s — and the wife’s mother, who was in her 90s and lived with them — were discovered dead in their home Sunday morning when a friend went to their home to check on them after the couple did not arrive at church.
Police believe the murders are a “random” act of violence. The preliminary investigation found signs of forced entry.
Police warned residents to lock their doors and remain watchful as investigators track down the killer or killers, who are still at large.
“This is the night to lock your doors and windows,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said at a news conference Sunday night. “We are asking people if they hear or see something suspicious, please call the Newton police immediately.”
“As we mourn the victims of this senseless, and violent tragedy we ask all members of our community to remain alert and vigilant,” the Newton Police Department wrote in a tweet Monday.
“Two of the individuals were celebrating a golden wedding anniversary this weekend. As you can imagine, this would be tragic on any day. To have family gathered for this kind of a celebration makes it particularly tragic,” Ryan said.
An attempted break-in occurred about half a mile from the victims’ home early on Sunday morning, but it is not clear if the two crimes are connected, Ryan said.
“That’s why we are concerned particularly about the safety issue,” Ryan said.
“As far as the Newton Police Department, we won’t rest until we find out who did this and we find justice for the victims that were involved here,” Carmichael said.
Newton Police Chief John Carmichael spoke at the news conference as well.
Fr. Dan Riley of Our Lady Help of Christians, a Newton Catholic parish, said the couple was planning to celebrate their 50th anniversary in a blessing after holy communion at the 10 a.m. Mass.
The priest described the three victims as “three beloved parishioners — salt of the earth people, just great, great people.”
Neighbors of the three were left in shock by the slayings.
“Just shock. I mean, this is a safe neighborhood. You don’t have murders in Newton or Nonantum,” neighbor Jack Porter told local outlet WCBV.
Newton, which has fewer than 88,000 people, is generally considered an extremely safe city. The city was ranked the second safest city for families in the country by a SafeWise report last year.
Boston has seen its murder rate rise this year. Murders have jumped from 18 murders so far this year compared to 13 murders by this time last year, according to data from the Boston police department.
Robberies have also spiked from 334 by this time last year to 365 robberies so far this year. Larceny has jumped from 2,925 last year to 3,231 this year.
Domestic assaults, auto thefts, and non-domestic assaults have all gone down.
