The father of Orion Krause — the 22-year-old accused of bludgeoning his mother, maternal grandparents and their home health aide to death in Groton — is asking for the police report of the incident to remain impounded so the “devastated” family will not have to read more details of the crime scene.
Alexander Krause filed an affidavit along with a motion by Orion Krause’s attorney, Edward Wayland, to keep the police report impounded.
Judge Margaret Guzman allowed the impoundment following Krause’s arraignment on Sept. 11. On Wednesday, she ruled that a redacted version of the report should be made available to the public. That report is being held until 11 a.m. on Friday, the deadline for Wayland to appeal the decision.
However, Wayland and Krause’s family want the report to remain impounded.
Statements made after Groton quadruple murder to stay impounded
It appears that Orion Krause made statements to police after his mother, grandparents and their caretaker were found murdered in Groton, but what exactly those statements were may not be available to the public as his case goes through the court system.
“Speaking for the Defendant’s twin-brother and myself, we are both in deep shock over what has occurred,” Alexander Krause wrote. “I know that is true for the Lackey family as well.”
Krause has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder. Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said that Krause, of Rockport, Maine, used a baseball bat on Sept. 8 to beat and kill his mother, Elizabeth “Buffy” Krause, 60; his grandparents, Frank Darby Lackey III, 89, and Elizabeth Lackey, known as Esu, 85; and their home healthcare provider, Bertha Mae Parker, 68, of Groton.
“In just the past two weeks I have had to bury my wife, my in-laws, and see my son confined to an institution for the criminally insane,” Alexander Krause wrote. “Must I now also read the grisly details of the crime scene in the newspaper? Must I hear the public discuss the precise condition of my wife’s body when it was found? What good will it serve to force that information on my family and me? No doubt many are morbidly curious about such things, but I cannot bear them.”
What we know: Groton quadruple murder
The quaint town of Groton has been grappling with a horrific quadruple murder that took the lives of three residents and a fourth person at a home on Common Street last week. Here is what we know so far, and what we don’t know yet, as the investigation continues.
Wayland argued in Ayer District Court on Wednesday that the report should not be released because it contains alleged statements Krause made, alleged actions Krause took, and some descriptions of the crime scene.
Guzman ruled that if released, the report would have three redacted sections to protect “statutorily privileged communications” that were not consented to by Krause.
According to Wayland’s motion, Krause had conversations before and after he was given his Miranda rights with law enforcement personnel and with medical professionals.
Alexander Krause wrote that he was nervous what impact the publication of the police report could have on his son.
“In my non-expert opinion he is struggling with a severe mental illness and publicizing the details of this case will only serve to aggravate that illness,” he wrote. “It is my hope that, whatever the outcome of the criminal case, the boy I knew before this tragedy — one known and loved by many — will be restored to me.”
Krause’s friends and former classmates at a top music school have said they never expected to hear him accused of such a crime.
Orion Krause, the man accused of killing 4 people, graduated from top music school
The 22-year-old man accused of killing four people in Groton, Massachusetts Friday graduated from a top music school in Ohio earlier this year and was called a “gentle” person by some friends.
The motion by Wayland also included an affidavit written by Dr. Christian Maetzener, a board-certified adult, child and adolescent psychiatrist in New York, and a friend of Alexander Krause.
“I am making this affidavit at (Alexander Krause’s) request and based upon my professional training and experience,” Maetzener wrote. “In my professional opinion further public disclosure of details involving the tragedy the Krause family has suffered will have severe adverse effects on their psychological health and magnify their trauma. It is also my professional opinion additional media exposure will have a devastating impact on the Defendant himself if, as may be the case, he is struggling to regain self-control in the face of an emerging mental illness.”
Orion Krause is being held without bail at Bridgewater State Hospital for a mental health evaluation. He is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 30.
Be the first to comment