Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan announced an arrest in the murders of three elderly family members found stabbed and bludgeoned early Sunday morning at 49 Broadway in Nonantum. The victims have been identified as 97-year-old Lucia Arpino; her daughter Gilda (Jill) D’Amore, 74, and Gilda’s husband, Bruno D’Amore, 75. When the three failed to appear at 10:00 a.m. Sunday Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians Church, a relative came to check on them. Mr. and Mrs. D’Amore, who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, were expected to renew their wedding vows at that Mass.
A neighbor described the victims as engaged in their family and the community. Mrs. D’Amore was a frequent volunteer at Our Lady’s. The neighbor said that everything in and around their house was in perfect order and noted that they washed their trash barrels after each trash collection. Others echoed their admiration for the family and their disbelief that they could have been brutally murdered.
Chris Esmonde, a Horace Mann community leader and neighbor, told Fig City News that he was “just shocked. This is a very safe, stable neighborhood …where people know and celebrate each other,” he said, explaining that it is a “close-knit community — for people who have been here for decades and for new neighbors.” That sense of safety has been damaged, he said.
While the investigation continued at the home on Broadway, neighbors reported that later on Sunday, at least two ambulances and a number of police cars arrived at 999 Washington Street, a single-family home at the corner of Brookside Avenue. Earlier in the day, there had been an attempted break-in a single-family home further down the Brookside Avenue. Although authorities have not specifically linked the two investigations, neighbors reported that the police remained in and around the Washington Street home until after 11PM.
Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and District Attorney Ryan will be meeting with community members on Wednesday evening, 7PM-8:30PM at the Horace Mann School auditorium, 225 Nevada Street.
