LOWELL — Attorneys for a Maine man charged with using a baseball bat to beat his mother, his grandparents and his grandparents’ caretaker to death in Massachusetts say they plan an insanity defense.
Edward Wayland, an attorney for 23-year-old Orion Krause, notified the prosecution at a hearing Thursday in Lowell Superior Court he intended to pursue a lack of criminal responsibility due to mental disease or defect defense based on a mental health evaluation of Krause. Krause didn’t attend.
The Rockport, Maine, man is charged with killing the victims in his grandparents’ Groton, Massachusetts, home in September 2017.
He is being held without bail after pleading not guilty to four counts of murder.
Wayland says the prosecution is conducting its own evaluation of Krause.
The next court date for the case in April 22.
CAMBBRIDGE — Authorities in Massachusetts have arrested a man they say illegally purchased ammunition at a gun show after talking about going on a politically motivated shooting rampage.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says 54-year-old Brian Schwartztrauber, of Cambridge, was held on $25,000 bail after pleading not guilty to illegal possession of ammunition.
Authorities were alerted by his roommate, who told police he talked about getting a gun and starting a “civil war.” She says he was motivated by his hatred of Democrats.
Authorities say they found ammunition in his home and he bought more ammo at a gun show last weekend while apparently intoxicated, even though he doesn’t have a Massachusetts gun permit.
His attorney, Maximilian Martucelli, says his client doesn’t own a gun and had no intention of committing a crime.
WOBURN — A former clerk for a public school system has pleaded not guilty to charges in connection to money missing from a student activities fund.
The Lowell Sun reports that 48-year-old Karen Brekalis entered her plea Thursday to charges of larceny over $250, forgery of a check and uttering a false check.
Brekalis had been working as an account business clerk for Lowell Public Schools when officials began to investigate $50,000 reported missing from the activities fund.
Administrators say Brekalis was placed on paid administrative leave and is no longer employed by the district.
Brekalis’ arrest comes after new administrators found multiple financial issues in the district, including a more than $2 million budget shortfall.
From Associated Press