What we know about the quadruple homicide in Groton
A 22-year-old Maine man has been charged in connection with the quadruple homicide that shook the town of Groton last week. Orion Krause, of Rockport, Maine, was arraigned Monday in Ayer District Court on charges that he killed his mother, grandparents, and his grandparents’ home health care worker on the evening of Sept. 8 in the elderly couple’s Groton home, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. Krause, 22, was held without bail and ordered sent to Bridgewater State Hospital, where officials will decide whether he is competent to stand trial, The Boston Globe reports. He pleaded not guilty to the slayings. The murders have stunned the residents of Groton, a town of about 11,000 located northwest of Boston, near the state border of New Hampshire. Prosecutors have not released a motive in the killings, but police have emphasized the event as an “isolated incident,” saying no other town residents are at risk. Here’s what we know about the quadruple homicide that authorities have called “a tragic incident of family violence.”
What led up to the slayings?
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said that shortly after Krause left his home in Rockport, Maine, on Sept. 7, his mother, 60-year-old Elizabeth Krause, contacted Rockport police because she was concerned about where he was going. Ryan said Elizabeth Krause was “reassured” the next morning when her son called her to say he was fine and in the Greater Boston area. He contacted her later that day asking for a ride back home to Maine, and she picked him up, Ryan said.
Originally they planned to return home, but at some point they decided to go and visit Orion’s grandparents in Groton, Ryan said.
That afternoon, Krause called someone and “made statements that were concerning” enough for that person to reach out to family members, Ryan said. That person has not been identified by authorities.
The district attorney said the police department received calls from that person — and from other family members — just as they were responding to the report of the quadruple homicide.
What allegedly happened next
In this Sept. 8 photo, officers take Orion Krause, covered in a white sheet, to a police vehicle in Groton.
The murders took place sometime after Orion and his mother entered the home on Common Street, though the precise timeline is unclear.
Wagner Alcocer, a neighbor, told the Globe that at about 5:45 p.m., the 22-year-old appeared on his back porch, naked, covered in mud, asking for help. There was blood on his face and back, and his back had several scratches.
Krause allegedly told him: “I murdered four people.” Krause also said he “needed” his sleeping pills.
Alcocer told the Globe that he and his wife had walked by the home belonging to Krause’s grandparents 10 minutes earlier and hadn’t heard anything.
He said he offered Krause a chair in the yard and a drink of water and then called the police. When Alcocer asked him where his clothes were, Krause said he “left them in the woods,” according to the Globe.
Authorities responded to the scene around 5:52 p.m., according to the DA’s office. They found the bodies of Krause’s mother and her parents, Elizabeth Lackey, 85, and Frank Lackey, 89, in the same area inside the home, Ryan said.
The body of the couple’s caregiver, Bertha Mae Parker, 68, of Groton, was found outside of the house. Parker had taken care of the elderly pair for several months.
Ryan has said all four of the victims appeared to have died of blunt force trauma. A baseball bat that may have been used in the attack was recovered by investigators.
The suspect
Orion Krause appears beside his attorney, Edward Wayland, during his arraignment in Ayer District Court.
Krause showed little reaction during his Monday arraignment, even as several of his family members wept at the back of the courtroom, according to the Globe. They didn’t answer questions from reporters as they left the courthouse.
The family later released a statement through Krause’s attorney, Edward Wayland, asking for privacy and expressing gratitude for the “compassion and support” they’ve received from the people of Groton and the town’s police department. They also offered condolences to the family of the home health aide.
“Members of the Krause family want to express their deepest sympathies to the family of Bertha Mae Parker,” the statement read. “They know too well the pain they are experiencing today.”
Wayland declined to comment on the case to Boston.com.
Krause graduated from Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio in 2017. Former classmates described him as a gentle and friendly person who was also a talented jazz drummer.
“He would make any situation fun,” 23-year-old Louie Krauss, of Baltimore, told the Globe.
Krauss told the newspaper that he and other Oberlin friends are stunned by the accusations against Krause.
“The nature of this crime is horrific, and the grief of family and friends immeasurable,” the school said in a statement. “And yet Orion is one of our own.”
Shawn Carlson, the principal of Krause’s high school, Camden Regional High School in Rockport, told the Globe that he was a “well-liked and a talented young man.”
Duryea Decker Griffith, a resident of Lincolnville, Maine, who went to high school with Krause, told the Portland Press Herald he saw his former band mate and his family on Wednesday.
“I was absolutely stunned,” he told the Press Herald. “He was a really good guy. He was musically talented, smart, laid-back, I would say cool.”
The Globe reports that Krause has a twin brother, who appeared to attend the court hearing. Before they moved to Rockport, the family lived on Monhegan Island, where his father, Alexander Krause, worked as a lobsterman and is now a captain for the Maine State Ferry Service, according to the Press Herald.
Krause grew up in Rockport and became known for his musical talent in middle school, excelling at percussion in jazz and concert band during his high school years, according to the newspaper. In 2014, he was the drummer for a band called Mostly Brothers & Company.
Following his Monday arraignment, Ryan declined comment on whether Krause has a history of mental illness or a criminal record. According to the Press Herald, he has no record in Maine and police in his hometown have reported no interactions with him.
The victims
A note was left with a bouquet of flowers at the Lackeys’ driveway in Groton.
Alcocer, the Lackeys’ neighbor, told the Globe he used to see the couple walk up and down their street during the afternoons, holding hands and waving when they saw him. Sometimes they were accompanied by their caretaker.
The elderly couple had owned their home since 1992, according to the Press Herald. Their daughter, Elizabeth “Buffy” Krause, was a stay-at-home mother and community volunteer, according to the newspaper.
Maurice Tremblay, a Pepperell resident who did construction in the Lackey’s home, told the Globe the elderly couple was generous and “great with their kids.”
Parker, a native of Louisiana, was described by her sisters as a devoted mother and one of 11 children.
“I know that my sister enjoyed her work,” her sister Mary Webb, told the Globe. “She was always thinking highly of these people. For this kind of thing to happen, it’s so senseless.”
