New details in the Mortimer case
A statement of the case (the version with four mysterious lines left out) was released in the Thomas J. Mortimer case today. It sheds a lot of light on what exactly happened in this quadruple murder case, or at least what prosecutors say happened. The judge in the case is planning to release the full statement, but Mortimer’s defense team has until Thursday to appeal this.
A rundown of the new facts (some of them gruesome) that were revealed in the statement of the case:
- On June 14, the day of the deaths of Mortimer’s wife (Laura, 41), children (Thomas “Finn,” 4 and Charlotte, 2), and mother-in-law (Ellen Stone, 64), Mortimer and his wife had a fight about a $2,499 check that he wrote to the IRS, which bounced. Laura saw the returned check in the mail when she returned home from work and questioned Tom about it on the phone and after he got home. He suggested that they wait until after dinner to discuss it.
- Mortimer’s parents, who live in Connecticut, were there to babysit the children, and they left at 7:45.
- Ellen talked to three friends on the phone that night, and one friend heard Charlotte kiss her goodnight between 8:43 and 9:00.
- Someone called the Brookline Bank, which had issued the bounced check, from the home phone at 10:46 and 10:47.
- At 12:01 a.m. it appears that Mortimer accidentally called the home phone with his cell phone.
- In addition to calling his employer and his son’s school to say that they would not be in, Mortimer also called a Simon gift card customer service number at 7:22 a.m. on June 15. Mortimer had two gift cards on him when he was arrested, both with $0 balances.
- At 7:44 Mortimer used Laura’s credit card to purchase gas and food at a Hess station in Winchester.
- At 7:54 he went to Panera Bread in Burlington.
- Laura’s sister, Debra Stone Sochat, called Laura’s cell phone at 8:47, and Mortimer answered and said that she wouldn’t be available for a long time. Debra called him repeatedly after that but he didn’t answer.
- The last person to speak with Mortimer by phone was his supervisor at M&R Consulting. At 10:31 Mortimer told him that he would be at work the next day.
- At some point Mortimer threw away his and Laura’s cell phones, as well as a blue blanket, in a Panera bag at a Mobil station in Andover.
- On June 16, Debra became concerned because Ellen had missed a scheduled dinner the night before, she could not reach anyone, and when she stopped by the house she noticed empty trash barrels in the driveway and mail in the mailbox. Police and firefighter medics performed a well-being check.
- Finn and Laura were lying in pools of blood in the family room. Ellen was in the living room under a rolled up Oriental rug, but it appeared that she had been killed near the front door as she tried to escape. A trail of blood led to Charlotte, who was upstairs in her crib. According to autopsy reports, Laura and Ellen died of sharp force wounds to the neck and torso, and Finn and Charlotte died of sharp force wounds to the neck.
- Mortimer apparently wrote a typed note and left one copy in the family room and one in the kitchen. Discarded drafts were found in trash baskets in the basement near the printer and in the kitchen. In the note, he allegedly confessed to the killings, saying that he was “ashamed, frightened, relieved, surprised,” and that he hated himself but could think of no better solution. He wrote of his dislike for Laura and her family and wrote that he should have written a book about his ordeal “instead of bottling up my anger, frustration, resentment and hatred and letting it fester until one murderous night.”
- A knife sharpener was on a table in the family room and a bloody knife with a bent handle was in the trash in the kitchen.
- A Lexus in the garage had two hoses connected to the tailpipe and the other ends taped inside the car with all the windows closed. On the front passenger seat were a knife, a hammer, and a bottle of vodka.
- After he was arrested in Bernardston, MA, Mortimer called his parents and apparently admitted to the killings. He said he was “sorry for wrecking everyone else’s lives,” that money was part of the problem, that he “just lost it,” and that he had tried to commit suicide. His mother said that she wished she hadn’t left that night, and he agreed.
- Mortimer had cuts on his left wrist and inner thigh, but he declined medical attention except for a bandage on his wrist.
Some sad but interesting words from Mortimer himself via the letter he left in the house:
Ultimately, I did these horrible things because I could not cope with the responsibilities I took upon myself. I was too cavalier with life, especially others lives. What I have done is extremely selfish and cowardly. I took the easy way out. I do have remorse with what I have done. I wonder what life would be like if I did not chicken out. But when I try to imagine what life could have been all I envision is sadness, regret of chances missed and despair. I think of the future and think of Finn or Charlotte being teased or bullied and my heart breaks. I can not think, of a more positive situation.
What have I done? I hate myself more than ever. I now wish I accepted responsibilities for my actions, dealt with Laura maturally (sic), divorced her, and was a good role model for Finn and Charlotte…
I can’t think of much else…actually, I can think of a lot. I am ashamed, frightened, relieved, surprised that I murdered my family, disgusted with myself. Looking forward to peace but already missing terribly Finn and Charlotte. That will be my “hell”. I know that they are in a much better place than they could ever be living with Laura and living with me.
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