Lorne J. Acquin, a Canadian Indian, was convicted of committing  the worst mass murder in the history of the State of Connecticut by killing his foster brother's family.

Lorne J. Acquin

People living in Cedar Hill Drive, Prospect, Connecticut, were awoken from their sleep in the early hours of Friday 22 July 1977, by the smell of smoke and the crackling of fire.

Looking out, they saw the house occupied by the Beaudoin family was a blazing inferno. The fire brigade were called and doused the flames with their hoses, but despite their best efforts the house was gutted. When firefighters entered the still smouldering ruins they found the charred remains of human corpses everywhere.

They came upon twenty-nine-year-old Mrs Cheryl Beaudoin dead on the kitchen floor, her clothes burned from her body. The bodies of three children were discovered in a bedroom to the right of the hall and two others in a bedroom to the left. Another child was dead in the master bedroom and two more in the bathroom.

Investigators later noticed that Mrs Beaudoin and several of the children had their hands tied behind their backs and the two in the bathroom had their feet bound together; all the children appeared to have head wounds.

The victims, apart from Mrs-Beaudoin, were her own seven children Frederick (twelve), Aaron Lee (ten), Debra Ann (nine), Paul (eight), Roderick (six), Holly Lyn (five) and Mary Lou (four). The ninth victim was Mrs Beaudoin's niece Jennifer Santoro (six), who had been staying with the family.

Police immediately launched the largest murder investigation in Connecticut's criminal history. Post-mortems established that Mrs Beaudoin died from head injuries and a stab wound in the chest. Paul also died from head injuries, while the others perished from a combination of head injuries and smoke inhalation.

Within twenty-four hours detectives had interviewed more than a hundred potential witnesses, including the bereaved husband and his foster brother Lome J. Acquin, who turned out to have been at the house playing with the Beaudoin children on the night before the fire. A witness later confirmed that a man had been seen in the area sitting in his car on the day before the murders.

The police investigation now concentrated on twenty-seven-year-old Acquin, who, according to the criminal records had a previous conviction for burglary plus an additional sentence for an attempted jail break.

On Saturday 23 July, Acquin was detained for questioning. On the Sunday morning, he agreed to make a statement in which he admitted attacking his sister-in-law with a tyre lever, after which he did the same to the children before spreading petrol round the house and setting it on fire. Later that day Lome Acquin was charged with nine counts of murder and one of arson.

Acquin eventually went on trial at Waterbury on Monday 16 July 1979, after jury selection had taken more than a month. The prosecution emphasised that in his confession, Acquin said he 'might' have sexually molested ten-year-old Sharon Beaudoin but that the postmortem examinations had confirmed there were signs of sexual injury in her case.

On Friday 19 October 1979, after three days' deliberation the jury convicted Acquin on all nine counts of murder and the charge of arson. He was subsequently sentenced to twenty-five years to life on each of the murder convictions and twenty for arson.

"The Encyclopedia of Mass Murder," by Brian Lane and Wilfred Gregg

The Prospect, Connecticut mass murder was a mass murder that occured on July 22, 1977 when 27-year-old Lorne J. Acquin killed his foster brother's wife, her seven children, and her niece in their home at Cedar Hill Drive in Prospect, Connecticut by beating them to death with a tire iron, before setting fire to the building

It remains the largest mass murder in Connecticut history.

Murders

On Friday, July 22, 1977 residents on Cedar Hill Drive were awoken from their sleep by the smell of smoke. Looking out onto the street, they saw the house of their neighbor Cheryl Beaudoin engulfed in flames. Despite the best efforts of the fire brigade, the house was gutted. Once inside, firefighters found charred bodies throughout the residence.

In the kitchen area, they found 29 year old Cheryl Beaudoin dead on the floor. The bodies of three children were found in a bedroom, along with another bedroom containing two other children. Another child's body was found in the master bedroom and two more bodies were found in the bathroom. Several of the children, as well as Cheryl Beaudoin, had their hands tied behind their backs. Two of the other children's feet were tied together. All of the children appeared to have head wounds.

The victims, aside from Cheryl Beaudoin, were her seven children: Frederick (aged 12), Sharon Lee (aged 10), Debra Ann (aged 9), Paul (aged 8), Roderick (aged 6), Holly Lyn (aged 5), and Mary Lou (aged 4). The ninth victim was Jennifer Santoro (aged 6), who was a visiting child of a family friend.

Within 24 hours, police had interviewed more than a hundred witnesses, including Beaudoin's husband and his foster brother Lorne J. Acquin who had been playing at the house with the Beaudoin children the previous night. The following Sunday night, Acquin agreed to make a statement to police in which he admitted to attacking his sister-in-law with a tire iron. After attacking her, he turned his attacks on the children with the same weapon. He then spread petrol around the house and set it on fire. Later that day, he was charged with nine counts of murder and one count of arson.

Trial and conviction

Acquin went on trial July 16, 1979. He was sentenced to 25 years to life on each murder conviction and 20 years for arson.

Wikipedia.org