Orion Krause from Groton was charged with four murder on Saturday. The police called the crime a ‘tragic incident of family violence’
A 22-year-old Maine man was charged with the murders of his mother, her elderly parents and their caretaker on Saturday, according to a family friend.
Orion Krause from Groton was charged in what police are calling a ‘tragic incident of family violence.’
While the names of the four victims have not officially been released, the Portland Press Herald spoke to Krause’s family friend Sherman Stanley who revealed the relationship of those killed.
Police responded to a call to 80 Common St on Friday evening where they found the four victims which reportedly included Elizabeth ‘Buffy’ Krause, Orion’s mother.
Three bodies were found inside the property and one was discovered outside.
The victims died from blunt force trauma according to preliminary investigations. Police have recovered the weapon but have not revealed what it is at this point.
The Boston Globe reported a completely naked young man caked in mud and with blood on his came to one of the neighbors’ doors to ask for help.
The young man confessed that he murdered four people and asked for sleeping pills. Walter and Thelka Alcocer called the police who identified the young man as Krause. They covered him a sheet and were seen holding him upright as they put him into the police car.
Alcocer told The Associated Press that the suspect’s eyes were ‘very red’ and he had cuts on his body and blood above his eye and knee but was unarmed and seemed vulnerable.
Orion Krause was seen covered in a white sheet as officer appeared to hold him upright as they led him into the police car
Krause told his neighbor that he killed four people and then asked them for sleeping pills
‘He looked like a nice kid who needed help, he was skinny (and) tall. I thought he was the victim of the prank, or in an accident or had a mental health problem. He wasn’t bleeding profusely or anything,’ Alcocer said.
Alcocer, who had never seen Krause until that night, had thought the alleged confession was ‘just crazy talk.’ It wasn’t until Krause was later taken away in an ambulance that a detective confirmed to Alcocer that the killings had taken place, Alcocer said.
Police have not indicated if he was on drugs at this point.
At Camden Hills Regional High School, Orion was known playing drums in the jazz band and received National Medal of Arts in 2009.
He went on to study music at Oberlin Conservatory at Oberlin College in Ohio and graduated in May.
College President Carmen Ambar and the Dean of the Conservatory Andrea Kalyn said in an email to the Lowell Sun: ‘We recognize that this news may be difficult to process and we encourage those personally touched by this news to seek any support you need.’
Krause studied music at Oberlin Conservatory at Oberlin College in Ohio and graduated in May
‘We are offering many layers of support to current students, faculty, and staff on campus who are dealing with this tragic news.’
In 2014, he was a drummer for the band Mostly Brothers & Company.
Krause’s acquaintances told local sources he was ‘gentle’ and said they were shocked to learn he was charged with the murders.
He has no criminal record and police also have not released the motive for the murders.
A community vigil for the four victims was held on Sunday in Groton.