Prosecutors said the Weymouth teen who allegedly murdered his mother, sister and mother’s boyfriend used a hammer and knife to kill his family members and stuffed a Beanie Baby toy in the man’s mouth.
The gruesome details of Thursday’s triple murder were revealed yesterday during the arraignment for 18-year-old Donald Rudolph.
He was ordered held without bail after he pleaded not guilty and was ordered to have a mental health evaluation at a state facility in Bridgewater.
Dr. Kathleen Heide, a professor of criminology at the University of South Florida and author of “Why Kids Kill Parents,” said it’s rare for a child to kill more than one parent or family member.
“Usually when you have multiple-victim incidents either the offender is severely mentally ill or is really enraged and in the course of having started to kill one person … the individual continues on that violent rampage. It doesn’t necessarily have to be intentional,” she said.
Heide said the most common types of criminal defenses in parricide cases are self-defense and insanity.
A mental health expert told the court that Rudolph was “not very oriented and he’s confused.”
Other child violence
A Danvers man was ordered held without bail yesterday for allegedly killing his 60-year-old father.
Stephen Anastasi, 24, was arrested Saturday for beating his father, John, with a hammer and then stabbing him in the home they shared.
Prosecutors said that during the murder Anastasi used heroin, according to the Globe.
On Sunday, a Norton man was arrested for allegedly pinning his 47-year-old mother between the truck he was driving and another car in the driveway of their home.
Eric Dumont, 33, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
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