CASE NOTES
Murders in Groton: The Quadruple Homicide on Common Street
Location: Common Street, Groton, Massachusetts
Date: September 8, 2017
Victims: Elizabeth “Esu” Lackey, F. Danby Lackey III, Elizabeth Krause and Bertha Mae Parker
Person Responsible: Orion Krause
Case Status: Resolved — Guilty Plea
THE CASE
On September 8, 2017, an unthinkable act of violence shattered the quiet of Groton, Massachusetts.
Four people were killed at the Common Street home of F. Danby and Elizabeth Lackey: the elderly couple, their daughter Elizabeth Krause, and the Lackeys’ caretaker, Bertha Mae Parker.
The person responsible was 22-year-old Orion Krause, Elizabeth Krause’s son and the Lackeys’ grandson.
Authorities determined that the four victims suffered fatal blunt-force injuries. A baseball bat was recovered in connection with the killings.
The crime stunned Groton, a small Massachusetts community that had gone more than two decades without a homicide.
THE VICTIMS
Elizabeth “Esu” Lackey
Age: 85
Elizabeth Lackey was Orion Krause’s maternal grandmother and lived with her husband on Common Street in Groton.
Her home—the place where she should have been safest—became the scene of a devastating act of family violence.
F. Danby Lackey III
Age: 89
F. Danby Lackey III was Elizabeth Lackey’s husband and Orion Krause’s maternal grandfather.
He and his wife had established their home in the quiet Groton community long before the events of September 2017 brought national attention to Common Street.
Elizabeth Krause
Age: 60
Elizabeth Krause was the daughter of Danby and Elizabeth Lackey and the mother of Orion Krause.
She lived in Maine and had become deeply concerned about her son in the hours leading up to the murders.
Her attempts to help him would ultimately bring mother and son to her parents’ home in Groton.
Bertha Mae Parker
Age: 68
Bertha Mae Parker was a caretaker who assisted the Lackeys.
She was not a member of the Krause-Lackey family, but became the fourth victim of the violence that unfolded that afternoon.
Her death is an important part of this story. Bertha was at the Common Street home doing her job—caring for others—when she was killed.
THE TIMELINE
September 7, 2017
Concern surrounding Orion Krause began before the murders.
Orion abruptly left his family home in Rockport, Maine. His mother, Elizabeth, became concerned about his safety and contacted authorities.
Her concern centered on the possibility that her son might harm himself.
September 8, 2017
By the following morning, Orion was in the Boston area and contacted his mother for help getting home.
Elizabeth traveled to Massachusetts to get him.
Rather than immediately returning to Maine, they stopped at the Groton home of Elizabeth’s parents, Danby and Elizabeth Lackey.
At some point that afternoon, the situation turned deadly.
Inside and around the Common Street property, Orion Krause killed his mother, both of his grandparents and Bertha Mae Parker.
All four suffered fatal blunt-force injuries.
THE WARNINGS
One of the most haunting elements of the case is what authorities learned about the hours preceding the murders.
People in Orion’s life had become concerned about his behavior.
According to police records later reported publicly, one of Orion’s former professors had communicated with him and became alarmed after Orion spoke about killing his mother.
The professor's family contacted authorities in Maine.
Meanwhile, attempts were being made to determine where Orion was and whether he was safe.
By the time information made its way to police in Groton, however, officers were already responding to Common Street.
THE NEIGHBOR'S 911 CALL
The first indication to nearby residents that something horrific had happened came not from the Lackey home, but from a neighboring property.
After the killings, Orion Krause emerged covered in mud and with blood visible on him. He approached the home of neighbor Wagner Alcocer asking for help.
Orion told Alcocer that he had killed four people.
Alcocer called 911.
Police responded to the area and encountered Krause before discovering the victims at his grandparents’ property.
What initially sounded almost impossible to believe was soon confirmed.
Four people were dead.
THE CRIME SCENE
Police located victims both inside and outside the Common Street home.
Investigators determined that the victims had suffered severe blunt-force trauma.
A baseball bat was identified as the murder weapon.
Krause made statements to responding authorities taking responsibility for killing his family. After officers confirmed that victims had been found and advised him of his Miranda rights, the investigation moved from a disturbing encounter with a man at a neighbor's home to a quadruple-murder case.
THE ARREST
Orion Krause was taken into custody and charged with four counts of murder.
The 22-year-old was initially ordered held without bail and sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for a competency evaluation.
His mental state became a significant component of the legal proceedings that followed.
In October 2017, Krause was found competent to stand trial, allowing the criminal case against him to proceed.
THE COURT CASE
The case remained in the Massachusetts court system for several years.
Then, on September 1, 2021, nearly four years after the murders, Orion Krause appeared in Lowell Superior Court and pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree murder.
The guilty pleas meant there would be no murder trial.
Krause admitted responsibility for killing his mother, his grandparents and Bertha Mae Parker.
He was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after serving the required minimum sentence.
A TOWN SHAKEN
Groton is a community better known for historic homes, farmland, prestigious schools and quintessential New England scenery than violent crime.
Before September 8, 2017, the town had reportedly gone more than 20 years without a homicide.
That changed in a single afternoon.
The killings on Common Street weren't simply a crime that happened inside one home. They became part of Groton's history and left families, neighbors, first responders and an entire community trying to understand how four lives could be taken so suddenly.
FOUR PEOPLE — NOT JUST ONE CRIME
Cases involving extreme violence can easily become centered on the person who committed the crime.
But this case belongs first to the people who lost their lives:
Elizabeth “Esu” Lackey.
F. Danby Lackey III.
Elizabeth Krause.
Bertha Mae Parker.
Four individual lives.
Four people with families, histories and relationships that existed long before September 8, 2017.
Their names deserve to remain at the center of the story.