John Jefferson
Inset: Mathew Locke (MassLive). Background: The home where Locke killed Sara Bermudez and her three children (WFXT).
A Massachusetts man will spend the rest of his life in prison after stabbing his cousin’s wife and her three children to death and burning their bodies before blaming the entire slaying on the notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as MS-13.
Mathew Locke, 38, was sentenced on Thursday to four life terms — one for each victim — to be served consecutively in the deaths of Sara Bermudez, 38, and her children, Madison, 8, James, 6, and Michael, 2. He was convicted last month of first-degree murder, including deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity and cruelty, and felony murder, with the underlying felonies being armed burglary and aggravated rape, according to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office. He was also found guilty of armed burglary and arson of a dwelling.
“There’s a special place in hell for people that do things like this,” Bermudez’s husband and Locke’s cousin, Moses Bermudez, told the judge at the sentencing, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.
“The deaths of this mother and her children were some of the most heinous ever seen by this office,” District Attorney Joe Early said.
The bloodshed happened on Feb. 28, 2018, at a home in West Brookfield. The victims were killed, and then the defendant poured diesel gasoline over them and the room and lit it on fire, Worcester Assistant District Attorney Terry J. McLaughlin told the jury, the Boston Globe reported.
Police conducting a welfare check the following day found the bodies in an upstairs bedroom. Prosecutors said they linked the defendant to the crime through DNA found on the genitals of Sara Bermudez and her young daughter, as well as other evidence.
Afterward, Locke told police a bizarre story about MS-13 being responsible. He said at one point that his cousin — Bermudez’s husband — told him, “They should pay attention to the news in the coming days because anyone associated with MS-13 was going to get hurt and die,” public radio station WBUR reported, citing court documents.
“Locke’s statement indicated that members of MS-13 were responsible for the murders,” the documents said, according to the outlet.
Bermudez’s husband and a third person Locke mentioned to police about hearing about the alleged MS-13 connection both denied to police saying anything about MS-13 to Locke, the station reported. Speculation about the gang link was fueled because Bermudez was from El Salvador, where MS-13 started.
Locke has a history of domestic violence and arson.
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