The loss of three people who were killed in their home on Sunday weighs heavily on the Newton community as a Mass of Peace will be held to honor their lives Tuesday evening.
Bruno and Jill D’Amore and Jill’s mother Lucia Arpino were found dead inside their home on Broadway Street in the Nonantum neighborhood on Sunday. The D’Amores were supposed to be renewing their wedding vows on their 50th anniversary on Sunday, but never arrived at church.
Flowers sit near the family home, left behind by neighbors and others who knew the family. It is a trying time for those who knew the three, including their church community. All three of them attended Our Lady Help of Christians Church.
Family, friends, church members and the community came together at Tuesday night to remember the victims.
"It was very heartfelt and sincere," said Debbie Sylvester, who attended the Mass. "I hope it helps the family."
"It could be anybody's grandmother, aunt, uncle," said Paul Hurney. "It's important to be here to show your support for the family, for the community."
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"Trying times reveal character, the character of people here is...the love, the faith, the care for each other, they haven't run from the uncomfortable feelings, but rather, have embraced their friends, and I couldn't be more proud of them," said Father Dan Riley, the church's pastor.
Riley added that Cardinal Sean O'Malley of the Boston Archdiocese told the Pope about the story.
"He and the Pope have said individual prayer for this family, the love has been immense," he said.
"I'm here because they were my neighbors," Faith Justice said at Tuesday's service. "The community is really really reeling from this. It's around the corner from my home. Lucia was a lovely, sweet woman."
Investigators say they believe the attack was random, with signs of a break-in evident in the home, which left the community reeling as law enforcement initially called for vigilance Sunday night. On Monday officials announced they had a suspect in custody.
Christopher Ferguson, the man charged in the attack, was ordered held without bail at a court appearance on Tuesday. Ferguson was identified as the suspect in the killings by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan during a news conference Monday night, where she explained that he so far faces one murder charge, as well burglary and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. Additional charges are expected once autopsies on the three victims have been completed — prosecutors said in court Tuesday that those autopsies were being completed Tuesday.
The Mass of Peace service is slated to begin around 6:30 p.m. A large turnout was expected, with the church saying they wanted to give the community a chance to come together at a place that was special to the victims.
