Dad pleads guilty to murdering two kids, their mother, and their grandmother (Winchester, Massachusetts)

They blame four bloody horrendous murders on "marital problems"? On a bounced check? Face reality. Dad THOMAS MORTIMER IV is a classic sociopath. And all this reeks of violent overkill. Had this guy broken into the house of strangers and generated this many deaths in such a brutal fashion, would anybody give a sh** about how much money was currently in his bank account?

This is typical of the way that male violence against "their" women and children is minimized and dismissed. And Daddy's argument that he didn't want the kids to grow up in a "broken home"--so he slashed their throats? This is pure narcissistic drivel, but it's the kind of drivel encouraged by fathers rights people. That the kids are better off dead than being free from a psycho daddy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2212533/Father-slashed-throat-son-4-daughter-2-repeatedly-stabbing-wife-mother-law-frenzied-attack-argument-bounced-check.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

IT expert slashed throats of son, 4, and daughter, 2, after killing wife and mother-in-law in frenzied attack sparked by row over bounced check

By Rachel Quigley

PUBLISHED: 17:11 EST, 3 October 2012 | UPDATED: 17:30 EST, 3 October 2012

A father pleaded guilty today to stabbing his wife and mother-in-law and slashing the throats of his two young children in a frenzied attack after an argument over a bounced check.

Thomas Mortimer IV, 45, from Boston, entered pleas to first-degree murder in Woburn Superior Court for the deaths of his mother-in-law, Ellen Stone, his wife Laura Stone Mortimer and their two children, two-year-old Charlotte and four-year-old Thomas 'Finn' Mortimer V.

Police said the victims' bodies were found in pools of blood on June 15, 2010 at their Winchester home after repeated telephone calls were not answered.

District attorney Adrienne Lynch told the court that Mortimer beat his wife of seven years with a frying pan before stabbing her in the head and body up to 60 times when she confronted him about the bounced check for $2,499.

As his mother-in-law tried to flee the house, he stabbed her at least 18 times before dragging her inside and covering her with a rug.

His two-year-old was found slain in her crib. She was awake and standing up when her father attacked her, the court heard.

It was later revealed that his son Thomas witnessed the brutal murders before he too was killed. His body was found next to his mother's.

Prosecutors said the slayings followed on-going marital problems - mainly about financial diificulties - between Mortimer and his wife.

He had been unemployed for a period of nearly a year, but had recently found a job in a software company, according to the Boston Herald. Mortimer also later told police he would rather his children were dead than grow up in a broken home.

In court documents, prosecutors said they found a typed confession written by Mortimer in the house.

In the note, Mortimer said he flew into a rage after he and his wife argued over the check he sent to the Internal Revenue Service, court documents said.

He wrote: 'I did these horrible things. What I have done is extremely selfish and cowardly. I took the easy way out.

He detailed how he slashed his children's throats and stabbed his wife and mother-in-law. He also revealed how his four-year-old son witnessed the horrible acts.

'I expecially [sic] sorry to Finn that he had to witness these horrid acts,' he wrote. 'It was not supposed to be this way.'

According to the Boston Herald, he showed no emotion nor visibly reacted as the court heard about the brutal acts of violence in the frenzied stabbing of his family.

Winchester Fire Lieutenant Steven B. Osborne Jr testified last year that he walked inside the home and quickly made the shocking discovery. '

After opening the door I shouted, "Hello, hello, Fire Department", and continued walking straight ahead, and I turned to the left at a hallway. I saw a person lying on the floor.
'I walked to the body to see if there were any signs of life, and then I saw another body, covered with something, a cloth or a blanket.

'I moved the blanket back, it was a child. The child had a large wound to the neck. I immediately realized it was a crime scene and backed out of the building.'

Mortimer's trial was expected to start next week but he changed his plea and will now spend the rest of his life in jail.

Middlesex Superior Court Judge S. Jane Haggerty said the murders were 'unimaginable and gruesome', according to the Boston Herald.

Mortimer’s parents submitted an impact statement to the court which read: 'We know our son has done something horrible, but he has been the nicest, most compassionate human being we have ever known.'