Michael Beaudry during his arraignment at Quincy District Court Tuesday.
CREDIT: POOL/PATRIOT LEDGER
A son’s alleged deadly blow to the head of his father was the result of a strained relationship between the two that reached a fatal and tragic peak Monday afternoon with an argument over a BB gun, authorities and lawyers said.
Michael Beaudry, 20, pleaded not guilty to murdering his 58-year-old father Ronald outside their Weymouth home. Beaudry was arraigned in Quincy District Court yesterday and ordered held without bail.
The Monday afternoon incident started when Beaudry wanted to use his BB gun, authorities said. Beaudry’s father did not want him to take the gun outside because they had previously had frightened neighbors call the police when they thought Beaudry was carrying a real gun around the house.
Beaudry went outside to access the bulkhead door to the basement to shoot his gun and his father followed him to make sure he didn’t take the gun outside.
At that point, attorneys said, Beaudry was carrying a propane take and PVC pipe to make a rocket at a friend’s home.
With his father following him and the argument escalating, authorities said Beaudry turned and struck his father in the head with the PVC pipe, causing him to fall to the ground.
Beaudry rushed back inside to grab a shirt to wrap around his father’s bleeding head, the police report stated. The commotion caused Shirley Beaudry to come outside and find her son next to the body of her lifeless husband.
“It’s a very tragic situation for the family,” said Jack Atwood, Beaudry’s attorney.
When police arrived, officers said they found Beaudry next to his father yelling “you have to save my dad. Dad why did you make me do it,” according to a police report.
Beaudry appeared in court yesterday in a yellow hospital johnny. He looked down when a prosecutor recounted the incident for the judge.
Atwood said he wanted to see the results of an autopsy and believed the case is manslaughter and not murder.
“I think the autopsy is going to tell a lot about the type of injury that took this gentleman’s life,” Atwood said.
Prior violence
Authorities said Beaudry has no prior criminal record, but a prosecutor said that about four months ago, a fight between him and his father left his father with broken ribs.
The prosecutor said Beaudry’s mother knew of the incident, but that it was never reported to police.
Strained relationship
In a police report, Beaudry talked to officers about the relationship he had with his father.
“Beaudry stated he and his dad have been ‘fighting for years’ and they ‘butting heads all the time,’” according to the police report.
Atwood, Beaudry’s attorney, called his client had a “passive” attitude and said the father would become upset and “irritated” when his son would walk away.
Atwood also said the two fought over Beaudry not having a job and not yet being in the military, which Beaudry was in the process of joining.
MICHAEL NAUGHTON
