Thomas Mortimer IV was arraigned today at Woburn District Court for the murders of his wife, two children, and mother in law. As I wrote last night, the bodies of Laura Stone Mortimer, 41, Ellen Stone, 64, Thomas Mortimer V, 4, and Charlotte Mortimer, 2, were found on Wednesday in their Winchester home. It is still unclear exactly how they were killed and what the motive might have been if Mortimer is indeed guilty, which certainly hasn’t been proven yet.
I was there at the arraignment and got to get a good look at the defendant during the proceedings and as he was led out of the courthouse (more on that later). Woburn District Court is a small building, and Mortimer’s arraignment took place in what seemed to be the main courtroom on the first floor. After many short hearings and arraignments in much smaller, less important cases, Mortimer entered the room through a side door at around 10:30. He was surrounded by three court officers, and his hands were cuffed behind his back. He was wearing a gray suit and white shirt, and he appeared very calm, looking straight ahead and slightly down, not moving or fidgeting.
The Judge’s name was James Barretto, the prosecutor was Adrienne Lynch (who also prosecuted Alexander Pring-Wilson), and Mortimer’s defense lawyer, appointed by the Committee for Public Counsel Services, was Denise Regan.
The court entered four not guilty pleas on Mortimer’s behalf, and he showed no emotion as the charges against him were read. Throughout most of the proceedings, Regan placed her hand on Mortimer’s wrist or back. Lynch, not surprisingly, asked that he be held without bail, and Regan did not object.
Regan made four motions in court today:
- To have Mortimer be examined by a forensic psychiatrist
- To allow the presence of defense counsel during the examination
- To provide money for an investigator for the defense
- To provide money for a forensic mental health professional
Lynch had no objection to three of the motions, and those three were allowed. She did object to the motion for defense counsel to be present during the evaluation, arguing that this would give the defense an unfair advantage by providing them information about Mortimer’s mental state that would not be available to the prosecution, and also that it would put an undue burden on the Middlesex Sheriff’s department in scheduling the evaluation. Judge Barretto took this motion under advisement.

The arraignment lasted only about 10 minutes. Afterward dozens of photographers, reporters, and spectators gathered around the back door of the courthouse to wait for Mortimer to come out. I decided to join them. After an hour and a half, Mortimer was finally led out of the courthouse and into a waiting van, surrounded by officers, chained, and wearing a bulletproof vest and what looked like it might have been a jail uniform. Two spectators yelled at him, saying that he should have hanged himself and probably would get hanged in jail. I managed to get two (probably not very good) pictures of him with my phone, and I will post them as soon as I figure out how to get them onto my computer. You can see the better one above. Sorry that I stink at taking pictures with my phone - you can see Mortimer all the way back in the doorway.
According to news reports, Mortimer’s parents were in attendance. It was hard to tell who was who in the courtroom filled with reporters, spectators, and defendants and lawyers in other cases, although two ladies sitting near me said that they were friends of Ellen.
Also according to news reports, this afternoon Judge Barretto ordered Mortimer to undergo a psychological evaluation today and allowed Regan to be present.
The next court date is scheduled for August 2. It should be interesting to see what happens as more details about the case come out.
Edit: Here are some links for further reading: