Couple celebrating 50th wedding anniversary killed in triple homicide in Massachusetts

Three people — including a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary — were found dead inside a Massachusetts home in an apparently random attack, police said.

No one is in custody in the case, and a suspect has not been named.

The three people were found at a Newton residence at 10:14 a.m. Sunday when a concerned person went to check on them after they missed church services, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

“Two of the individuals were celebrating a golden wedding anniversary this weekend,” Ryan said at a news conference Sunday evening. “As you can imagine, this would be tragic on any day. To have family gathered for this kind of a celebration makes it particularly tragic.”

There were signs of forced entry at the home and all three of the victims appear to have been stabbed to death, police said. Authorities are urging residents to be vigilant as a suspect is not in custody.

A family statement was posted online by their church, Sacred Heart and Our Lady’s Collaborative, on Monday identifying the victims as Jill and Bruno D’Amore as well as Lucia Arpino, Jill D’Amore’s mother.

“Many in our faith community are grieving this great loss,” the statement said. “We ask for your prayers for them, most especially for their three children and their five grandchildren.”

Newton Police Chief John Carmichael, Jr., said officers will have extra patrols and urged residents to report any suspicious activity immediately.

A break-in attempt was reported about a half-mile away at 5:45 a.m. Sunday but was not reported until at least an hour later, according to Ryan.

“We do not know at this point whether those two incidents are connected, but we are certainly looking at what happened this morning,” Ryan said.

The investigation is in its early stages, but the apparently random nature of the crime is why authorities are worried about the safety threat to the community, Ryan said. She said Sunday that she could not recall any other triple homicides in Newton’s history.

Residents in the area around the victims’ home are asked to review surveillance footage from Saturday night into Sunday morning and report abnormalities to authorities.