Boston man accused of stabbing Malden man 30 times arrested in Georgia

Police in Atlanta, Georgia, have arrested 33-year-old Boston resident Dion Smith for the murder of 79-year-old Malden resident Ronald Gilbert, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office said in a news release Thursday.

Smith allegedly stabbed Gilbert more than 30 times in Gilbert’s apartment in late December 2022 — two months before police found Gilbert’s body.

Police found Gilbert dead inside his second-floor apartment on Kennedy Drive around 2 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2023. They were called to the home after someone noticed an odor coming from the apartment.

Gilbert’s body showed “obvious signs of decomposition,” authorities said. Based on their investigation, they believe he was killed in late December 2022.

After examining Gilbert’s body, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that he had been stabbed more than 30 times.

Smith became a suspect in Gilbert’s murder after police found Gilbert’s car in Smith’s possession. They originally issued a warrant for his arrest in early March on a larceny charge stemming from the stolen vehicle.

Authorities said previously that Gilbert and Smith did not know each other. They have not specified a motive for Gilbert’s murder.

Police searched for Smith for over a month. He was arrested early Thursday morning without incident, the DA’s office said. A date has not yet been set for his return to Massachusetts.

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