Groton Quadruple Murder Suspect Indicted

GROTON, MA – The 23-year-old suspect in a gruesome quadruple murder in Groton last fall has been indicted on four counts of murder. Orion Krause, 23, of Rockport, Maine, was indicted by a Middlesex Superior Court Grand Jury, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's office.

He is accused of killing his mother, grandparents and a caretaker, possibly with a baseball bat, on Sept. 8, 2017. Police responded to a report that evening of a person needing assistance on Common Street. The caller, a neighbor who found a naked, bloody and muddy Krause on his doorstep declaring he "murdered four people," pointed police to another Common Street residence.

There, police found the bodies of an elderly man and woman and two middle-aged women. Three of the bodies were found inside the house and the other was found outside.

They were identified as Krause's grandparents, Elizabeth Lackey, 85, and Frank Lackey, 89, who were both residents of the Common Street house; his mother, Elizabeth Krause, 60, of Rockport, and Bertha Mae Parker, 68, of Groton, a home health care worker who did not live in the Common Street home.

Investigators believe Krause traveled from Rockport to the Boston area the day before the murders. Once there, he met his mother, and they went to his grandparents' house in Groton. At some point during the visit, he allegedly inflicted fatal, blunt-force injuries to the four victims.

Krause allegedly told officers he "freed them." A baseball bat was found in the yard and is believed to have been used, prosecutors said.

In the hours leading up to the murder, police received several calls about the man.

Elizabeth Krause contacted Rockport Police the night before saying her son had left his home and asked police to keep an eye out for his vehicle. Others reached out to police Sept. 8 after allegedly having a "concerning conversation" with Krause, prosecutors said.

The recent college graduate and once-promising musician was found competent to stand trial in October after completing a 40-day mental health evaluation.

Photo: Orion Krause, right, stands with his attorney Edward Wayland at Krause's arraignment in Ayer District Court in Ayer, Mass., Monday, Sept. 11, 2017. Krause, of Rockport, Maine, was ordered held without bail at Bridgewater State Hospital pending a competency hearing at his arraignment on murder charges Monday in Ayer. (Josh Reynolds/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

Jason Claffey (Patch Staff) and the Associated Press contributed to this report