GROTON, Mass. – Orion Krause, 22, of Rockport, Maine, was arraigned today in Ayer District Court on four counts of murder in connection with the Friday, September 8 quadruple homicide on Common Street in Groton.
Judge Margaret Guzman ordered the defendant to undergo a mental health evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital. The next court date is a status date on the competency of the defendant, tentatively scheduled for October 30, 2017 or sooner if the evaluation is completed at an earlier date. Pending a full hearing, and as the investigation is still open and ongoing, the police reports have been temporarily impounded.
On September 8, 2017, at approximately 5:52 p.m., Groton Police responded to a report of a person in need of assistance on Common Street. Upon arrival, investigators gathered information which led them to a second residence on Common Street. There they located four deceased individuals; an elderly male and female as well as two middle-aged women. Three of the bodies were found inside of the house and one was found outside.
The victims have been identified as the defendant’s grandparents, Elizabeth Lackey, 85, and Frank Lackey, 89, who were both residents of the Common Street Home; the victim’s mother, Elizabeth Krause, 60, of Rockport, Maine and Bertha Mae Parker, 68, of Groton, a home health care worker who did not reside in the Common Street residence.
The preliminary investigation suggests that the defendant traveled from Rockport, Maine to the Boston area on Thursday, September 7 . On Friday, September 8, the defendant’s mother met the defendant and they traveled together to visit the defendant’s grandparents at their Common Street home in Groton. At some point following his arrival at the home the defendant allegedly attacked four adults in and around the home causing fatal, blunt force injuries to the victims. Investigators removed a baseball bat from the yard that appears to have been used in the attack.
The follow up investigation into this matter revealed that the defendant’s mother had contacted Rockport Police on Thursday night concerned her son had fled the home and asking police to be on the lookout for the vehicle he was allegedly operating. The investigation further revealed that other individuals known to the defendant had also reached out to authorities on Friday after allegedly having a concerning conversation with the defendant.
Following the attack the defendant allegedly fled the home and was located by police in the yard of a nearby Common Street home.
The motive behind this alleged attack remains part of the open and ongoing investigation being conducted by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Groton Police Department and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
