Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says 41-year-old Christopher Ferguson has been arrested and charged in connection with the deaths of three people in a home in Newton over the weekend.
Ryan said during a press conference Monday evening that Ferguson was placed under arrest shortly after 7 p.m. after one of the victims’ autopsies came back and was ruled a homicide.
Ferguson is charged with the murder of one of the family members as the other two autopsies are still being conducted. Additional murder charges are likely, said Ryan.
The bodies of an elderly couple, celebrating their 50th anniversary, were found in a Broadway Street home in Newton when the couple failed to arrive at church Sunday morning, police said.
The pastor and community at Our Lady Help of Christians Church sent a letter to their church community on Monday and identified the three people killed as Jill and Bruno D’Amore and Jill’s mother, Lucia Arpino.
The D’Amores were in their 70s and Arpino was in her 90s.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share that the terrible tragedy that happened yesterday in Newton hit very close to home,” the victims’ relatives said in the letter.
When they never showed up to the church, it was a parishioner who went to their home to check on them and made the gruesome discovery.
“We ask for your prayers for them, most especially for their three children and their five grandchildren.”
A special Mass of Peace is planned for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Our Lady Help of Christians Church, 573 Washington St. in Newton.
“Following the conclusion of communal prayer, the church will remain open for a period of time for those who wish to continue their prayer,” the church said.
Riley thanked local agencies and members of the community for providing support to the church community during this difficult time.