NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Orion Krause charged over grisly murders of mother and grandparents

By Rohan Smith
news.com.au·
6 Apr, 2018 08:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Orion Krause is facing four charges of murder. Photo / AP

Orion Krause is facing four charges of murder. Photo / AP

A young man is walked down a long driveway in a white sheet, guided by police officers on either hip.

Moments earlier he was naked, covered in mud and ranting on his next door neighbour's doorstep, allegedly offering a "crazy" confession about a grotesque quadruple murder.

The series of events leading to that bizarre scene in the quiet neighbourhood in Groton, Massachusetts in September last year, will be picked apart after Orion Krause, 22, was officially charged on Friday.

He will face court on four counts of murder next week following the deaths of his mother, both grandparents and the family carer. This is the story that shocked a small town and left seasoned police officers shaken, reports News.com.au.

'I WOULDN'T GO NEAR HIM'

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Krause, 23, is accused of using a baseball bat to murder his mother, Elizabeth Krause, his grandparents, Frank and Elizabeth Lackey, and their carer, Bertha Mae Parker.

Police were first alerted on the evening of September 8 last year when Mr and Mrs Lackey's neighbour Wagner Alcocer made a panicked phone call.

The 911 recording starts with Mr Alcocer describing the scene.

"I'm calling from 42 Common St," he says. "We have a young guy, about 20 years old, completely naked with mud, he's a little bit crazy and he keeps saying that he murdered four people. We don't know who he is, we let him stay in the backyard. He needs help."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The neighbour waits while the details are relayed to officers before saying: "I'm going to give the kid a towel."

The dispatcher tells him: "I wouldn't go anywhere near him. Do not go anywhere near him. Just let him sit there. Just let me know if he goes anywhere."

Later, in an interview with local reporters, Mr Alcocer said Krause "surrendered himself".

"He did what I asked," he said.

Orion Krause, covered in a white sheet, is led away by police. Photo / AP
Orion Krause, covered in a white sheet, is led away by police. Photo / AP

"We thought it was just a kid who was drunk or high or has mental issues. To me it was just words. He said it very calmly ... then he sat there for 15-20 minutes. He never moved, he was a statue."

Police who responded walked in on a scene unfamiliar in the town of 10,000 in America's northeast. Officer Gordon Candow was one of the first on the scene. Documents obtained by the Portland Press Herald describe what he saw.

"I walked up the step to the back patio and I could see a white male in his early twenties sitting in a patio chair," Mr Candow wrote in an official police report.

"The male was naked and it appeared he had rubbed mud all over his body. The male was also covered in thin cuts. When I approached him I asked, 'Are you OK?' and 'What's going on?' The male stated, 'I murdered four people'."

Another officer, Sergeant James Goodwin, was the first to locate the victims. In his report, he wrote: "As I looked in the window, I observed two elderly looking people seated separately in chairs facing my direction. Both persons appeared to have severe trauma to the face and forehead.

"As I walked a little closer I then saw a third victim that I was not able to see prior. The victim was seated in a chair, slouched down with the back of their head on the corner of the kitchen island."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

'I THINK I HAVE TO KILL MY MOM'

On the day of the murders, Krause allegedly called an old college professor. The Boston Globe reports he spoke with Oberlin College professor James Haddad, telling him: "I think I have to kill my mom."

Asked to repeat himself, Krause allegedly said it again. It's believed police also received a phone call from one of the victims the day before she died. Orion Krause's mother, Elizabeth, phoned police to report her son "has been troubled", according to the Press Herald.

The newspaper reported Krause told Mr Haddad he had done "something bad" and "stolen money and his mother's car".

The murders rocked Groton, where local Police Chief Donald Palma called his entire staff to respond. He was left with no officers to attend to other matters in town, so called in help from out of town, the Lowell Sun reported.

Speaking at a presentation in January, he told the audience how the phone call he received on September 8 was the worst of his 42-year career.

"It's something I could have done without for the remainder of my career, but it did happen," Chief Palma said. "It can happen anywhere."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Krause is expected to appear in court on April 11.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Released protest leader sues Trump Administration for $33m

11 Jul 02:57 AM
World

Bull sharks keep warming to Sydney's waters

11 Jul 02:29 AM
World

In Brazil, Trump faces a country — and a leader — ready for a fight

11 Jul 02:01 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Released protest leader sues Trump Administration for $33m

Released protest leader sues Trump Administration for $33m

11 Jul 02:57 AM

The Columbia graduate was held in an immigration centre despite being a legal resident.

Bull sharks keep warming to Sydney's waters

Bull sharks keep warming to Sydney's waters

11 Jul 02:29 AM
In Brazil, Trump faces a country — and a leader — ready for a fight

In Brazil, Trump faces a country — and a leader — ready for a fight

11 Jul 02:01 AM
Top Ukrainian officer killed in Kyiv

Top Ukrainian officer killed in Kyiv

11 Jul 01:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP