Mental Illness Defense for Man Accused of Killing His Family
Posted on Oct 8, 2010 9:55am PDT
In Woburn, Mass., Thomas Mortimer IV has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, though prosecutors have copies of his written confession to the slayings, as reported by the Associated Press.
Arraigned in Worburn Superior Court following last week's indictment, Mortimer had previously entered no guilty pleas in district court. He has been held since his June arrest without bail.
As his wife's family looked on from the front row of the courtroom, Mortimer only frowned as he listened to a clerk read his indictment charging him with the murders, never glancing over to them.
Mortimer is accused of beating and stabbing to death his wife, 41 year-old Laura Stone Mortimer, mother-in-law, 64 year-old Ellen Stone, 4 year-old son Mortimer V and 2 year-old daughter, Charlotte.
"Ongoing marital discord" and a fight that night, per District Attorney Gerard Leone, preceded the murders. Evidence of Mortimer's attempted suicide was also found in the home.
Assistant Attorney Adrienne Lynch said that Mortimer called in sick at work and called his son's school to explain that he would be absent, some time between 9:10 pm on June 14 and 7:10 a.m. on June 15, per authorities.
Then, between 11:16 p.m. and 3:19 a.m., Mortimer used his computer to type out two copies of a confessional and left both out in his home where, "he admitted responsibility for the murders of his family".
Prosecutors gave the specific wordage as, "I did these horrible things. What I've done was extremely selfish and cowardly. I murdered my family."
Lynch stated that Mortimer then left the family home after making the two phone calls, and took his wife's cellular phone with him. When Laura's sister tried to reach her, "He indicated she was not able to come to the phone and it would be a while before she would be able to."
Mortimer was captured the day after the bodies were found, on June 16, in northwestern Massachusetts. Denise Regan, defense attorney for Mortimer, contends that her client has mental health issues.
She has asked that the prosecutor's "statement of the case" - a court document that will outline the circumstances of a particular crime and some of the evidence against a defendant - be kept sealed from public view until a full hearing is completed.
The "statement" - that at nine pages Regan finds excessive - could hamper Mortimer's right to a fair trial if the details were made public.
Prosecutors in Middlesex County, per Lynch, are required by court procedure to file a statement of the case. She argued that Mortimer simply "can't pick and choose" what a given prosecutor can file in court.
Regan was allowed time to file written arguments before a hearing on September 9 by Judge Thomas Billings. He had agreed to keep the statement of the case document sealed, for now.
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