A couple who had just celebrated their 50th anniversary are brutally murdered in their Massachusetts home: cops search for the suspect as they tell people in their neighborhood to lock their doors
- Three elderly men found murdered in their Massachusetts home
- They included an elderly couple and the woman’s mother, in her 90s.
- Police said there was evidence of a break-in and told locals to lock their doors.
An elderly couple who failed to show up for church on Sunday to renew their wedding vows at a celebration of their 50th anniversary have been found murdered in their home along with the wife’s 97-year-old mother.
Jill and Bruno D’Amore, 73 and 74, described as ‘fantastic Italians who wouldn’t hurt anyone’, celebrated their wedding anniversary on Saturday night and were due to renew their vows at Our Lady Help of Christians Church on Sunday.
But the couple never turned up, and at around 10:15 a.m., nearly an hour after mass began, they were found dead in their home along with Jill’s mother, Lucia Arpino.
All three were said to have died of stab wounds and blunt force trauma and there were signs the home, located in Newton, Massachusetts, had been broken into, police said Sunday night.
Newton’s police chief advised residents to keep their doors locked and check their surveillance cameras in case something was caught on video. No suspects had been identified as of Sunday night.
The unidentified Italian couple and the woman’s mother, who was in her 90s, were found by a neighbor at their home outside Boston.
Police said there was evidence of forced entry into the home of the elderly couple and that a separate incident of burglary was reported that morning about half a mile away.
The elderly couple were expected to attend church on Sunday morning, but failed to show up, prompting a neighbor to visit them at their home (pictured)
A neighbor who went to check on the family at their home in the Italian-American neighborhood of Nonantum called 911 at 10:14 a.m., Newton police said in a news release.
Jim Sbordone, a retired Newton Fire Department lieutenant who was also a close friend of the D’Amores, told The Boston Globe that the family had long been patrons of nearby Our Lady Help of Christians church.
“They were fantastic Italians who wouldn’t hurt anyone, and would do anything for anyone,” Sbordone told the newspaper.
They were great people.
“This is not the kind of thing that happens in the neighborhood,” he said. I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone again.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said during a news conference Sunday night that another half-mile away in Newtonville there was another attempted robbery that morning, around 5:40 a.m.
She said authorities were still working to establish whether the two events were related, and if so, in what order they occurred. She also called on community members to report anything suspicious.
All three of their bodies were reported to police shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday morning.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan (pictured at lectern) said authorities were still working to establish whether the triple murder and another incident half a mile away were linked.
‘Tonight is the night to lock your doors and windows, even if you don’t normally.
“It’s a warm night, people can have air conditioning running, be aware,” he said during the conference.
Newton Police Chief John F. Carmichael Jr. said there would be additional police presence on the streets Sunday night.
A neighbor who lives two houses from the couple but who wanted to remain anonymous also expressed confusion and shock over a seemingly arbitrary act of violence.
‘Because they?’ they told The Boston Herald. ‘Why a cute couple like them? Why this neighborhood? Nothing like that happens in this neighborhood.
He said the victims were a “very, very nice couple.”
The couple were regular churchgoers and Jill is listed on her website as being involved in decorating “in accordance with liturgical seasons”.
‘Jill had taken on the ministry of beautifying our church setting. Without a single day of liturgical training, she simply followed her heart, taking care of the flowers and decorating for the liturgical seasons. She spent endless hours in the care of our church,” the couple’s cousins, Paul and Ginny, wrote in a tribute.
Manish Dutt Mishra is an accomplished journalist and the Executive Editor at Elite News, a position he has held since 2021. With a wealth of experience in the media industry, Manish brings a unique perspective and a strong editorial vision to his role.