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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bitter-sweet anniversary for man in Mass. slayings

Rodrique Ngowi Associated Press

WOBURN, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man is marking his ninth wedding anniversary a day after he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing his wife, two children and mother-in-law at their home two years ago.

Thomas Mortimer IV marks the anniversary Thursday, one day after he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Woburn Superior Court.

The victims’ bodies were found at their Winchester home when Mortimer’s sister-in-law went there after repeated telephone calls to her mother and sister weren’t answered.

Prosecutors say the slayings followed a fight over a bounced check between Mortimer and his wife, Laura Stone Mortimer. Also killed were Ellen Stone, and the two Mortimer children, 2-year-old Charlotte and 4-year-old Thomas Mortimer V. Prosecutors say the boy watched his father kill the others before he was killed.