Reports: Rockport man told former professor he needed to kill his mom

Bangor Daily News - 10/26/2017

Oct. 26--The Rockport man accused of killing four people in Massachusetts last month, including his mother and grandparents, allegedly called a former college professor on the night of the murders and told him, "I think I have to kill my mom," according to news reports.

Orion Krause, 22, is charged with four counts of murder in connection with the Sept. 8 deaths of his mother, Elizabeth Lackey Krause, 60; her parents, Elizabeth Lackey, 85, and Frank Darby Lackey III, 89; and their home health aide, Bertha Mae Parker, 68. The four were allegedly killed with a baseball bat at the Lackeys' Groton home.

The call Krause made to his former Oberlin college music professor, Jamey Haddad, was revealed in documents released Wednesday by Knox County Regional Communications to the Portland Press Herald in response to a Freedom of Access Act request.

The documents include a transcript of a call made by Haddad's wife, Mary Gray, of Oberlin, Ohio, to Rockport police shortly after 5 p.m. on Sept. 8. Gray reportedly told Rockport police Sgt. James Moore that Haddad had just received a disturbing call from Krause.

Krause allegedly told Haddad that he had "done something bad" and had stolen money along with his mother's car. Krause told Haddad twice during the phone call, "I think I have to kill my mom," according to the Press Herald report.

Also included in the documents released by Knox County Regional Communications was a transcript of a call made by Krause's mother, Elizabeth Krause, to Rockport police two days before her death in which she said she was concerned about her son.

She stated her son had been acting strangely and had gone missing, perhaps heading out of state to visit a college friend. She expressed to police that she didn't want them to scare him. "I don't want to anger him. I mean, he is making this phone call he is asking me to trust him," the report states.

After speaking with Gray, Moore spoke with Orion Krause's twin brother, Cooper Krause, who told Moore that his family was in Massachusetts. Moore called the Groton Police Department, which said they had been receiving phone calls about Krause. Moore later received a message from a Groton police officer describing the deaths that occurred that night.

The Press Herald also reported that a redacted transcript of a 911 call made by Krause's mother on July 16, 2016, details an incident involving her son at their home in Rockport. While the conversation between Elizabeth Krause and the dispatcher is partially redacted, the document indicates that she said her "son needs some gentleness, he does not need any force." The dispatcher said he would send an ambulance and a police officer to the home.

Last week, Orion Krause was deemed mentally fit to stand trial, following psychiatric evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital in Massachusetts. Upon request from Krause's attorney, he will continue to be held at Bridgewater while the trial process continues.

Krause's attorney told the Bangor Daily News last week that he expects a grand jury to made an indictment decision in the next few weeks. If Krause is indicted, the next step would be arraignment, which would likely occur sometime in November.

Police reports from the Sept. 8 incident state Krause allegedly admitted to investigators that he killed the four people. The bodies of his mother and grandparents were found sitting up in chairs inside his grandparents' home, while Parker's body was found in a flower bed.

Krause allegedly told investigators on the night of the killings that he "freed them."

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