A neighbor has been arrested in the ‘random’ killing of an elderly couple who were stabbed to death in their Massachusetts home before they got the chance to renew their wedding vows.
Christopher Ferguson, 41, was arrested Monday evening for the triple homicides of Jill and Bruno D’Amore, as well as Jill’s 97-year-old mother Lucia Arpino, at their family home in Newton.
The couple had been set to renew their vows at Our Lady Help of Christians Church on Sunday for their 50th wedding anniversary. But when they failed to show up, a concerned friend went to check on them and found them and Arpino stabbed to death.
Authorities on Monday described the scene as bloody, with clear indications that the D’Amore’s, who are both in their 70s, put up a fight in an attempt to stop their murderer.
Massachusetts State Police found fingerprints, as well as a bloody bare footprint that they matched to Ferguson, who had been spotted on surveillance footage in the area Saturday night.
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Jill and Bruno D’Amore were found dead inside a Newton, Massachusetts, home after they planned to renew vows for their 50th wedding anniversary. They are pictured in a photo supplied by their family
Jill’s 97-year-old mother Lucia Arpino was also killed in the brutal attack
Christopher Ferguson, 41, was arrested Monday evening as the suspect in the killings in what prosecutors have described as a ‘random’ attack
‘Like fingerprints, the skin of people’s feet is unique,’ Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said at a news conference Monday night.
She added that he was seen ‘staggering’ in the area with no shoes and no shirt at 5.20am Sunday. It is unclear if that was before or after the allege murders, but Ryan said it was about 100 yards from his home and about four-tenths of a mile away from the crime scene.
Authorities said Ferguson did not personally know the D’Amores or Arpino and they believe the stabbing was ‘random.’
Ryan also said Ferguson was previously ‘known to police,’ though it is unclear whether he had any prior arrests.
He is now charged with homicide, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and burglary. Ryan said she expects further charges once the autopsies on all three victims are complete.
As of Monday night, only the autopsy on Jill, 73, had been completed.
A medical examiner found she suffered over 30 stab wounds when Ferguson allegedly broke into her house Saturday night.
Police on the scene found a screen window torn in the basement and blood on the ground. They also found a blood-stained knife in the kitchen.
There were also apparently signs of a struggle, including broken furniture and a crystal paperweight covered in blood.
Investigators said they had matched a bloody footprint from the scene to Ferguson. They also had him on video staggering back to his nearby house early Sunday morning, officials noted.
Ferguson is in a hospital, Ryan said, but it is unclear what injuries he may have sustained in the altercation.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday.
The three victims were found stabbed to death at their Newton, Massachusetts, home on Sunday morning
Police on the scene found signs of a struggle, including broken furniture and a crystal paperweight covered in blood. They were able to match a bloody footprint at the scene to neighbor Christopher Ferguson, 41, who was ‘known to police’
The D’Amore’s were set to renew their wedding vows at Our Lady Help of Christians Church on Sunday for their 50th wedding anniversary
The couple never showed up to the church, where Arpino attends Mass every Sunday
The D’Amore’s were remembered Monday as ‘fantastic Italian people who wouldn’t hurt a soul.’
Jim Sbordone, a retired Newton Fire Department lieutenant who was also close friends with the D’Amores, told The Boston Globe the family had long been patrons of the nearby Our Lady Help of Christians Church.
‘They would just do anything for anybody,’ Sbordone told the newspaper. ‘These were great people.’
‘This isn’t the type of thing that happens in the neighborhood,’ he said. ‘I hope it never happens again to anybody.’
Cousins of the D’Amores, Paul and Ginny Arpino, noted in a tribute that prior to Covid, Jill’s mother Lucia had not missed a mass in over 60 years.
‘She and her husband Alberto sat in the “North End” section of our church,’ they wrote. According to an obituary published in the Boston Globe, Alberto left her widow after passing away in 2014, aged 87.
A neighbor who lives near m the couple but wanted to remain anonymous also expressed confusion and shock at such a seemingly arbitrary act of violence.
‘Why them?’ they told The Boston Herald. ‘Why a nice couple like them? Why this neighborhood? Nothing like this happens in this neighborhood.’
He said the victims were a ‘very, very nice couple.’
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said at a news conference Monday that she expects further charges to be levied against Ferguson once the autopsies on all three victims are complete
Police said they matched a bloody footprint from the scene to Ferguson
The pair were regular attendees of the church and Jill is listed on its website as being involved in decorating it ‘in keeping with the liturgical seasons’.
‘Jill had taken on the ministry of beautifying our church’s environment. Without a single day of liturgical training she simply followed her heart, caring for the flowers and decorating for the liturgical seasons. She spent endless hours in the care of our church,’ wrote the couple’s cousins, Paul and Ginny, in a tribute.
The church’s pastor Rev. Dan Riley, told The Globe he had known the family since he moved to the Roman Catholic parish more than six years ago.
Riley described them as ‘just the best vision you could have of a Catholic Italian-American family.’
‘They had family warmth, a tomato garden outside, hospitality. They were just great people,’ he added.