NEEDHAM - The family of Robert Moore Sr. broke their silence yesterday, describing Moore as a "great old guy" and reached out to the family of the man accused of killing him to offer them "healing and peace."
"He was a smart, great-hearted, funny, sentimental, and incredibly generous human being," the family wrote in a statement yesterday. "His loss is beyond telling."
Ed Jacobs, a family friend, read the statement from the doorway of the Needham split-level house where Moore, 78, was bludgeoned to death Friday afternoon. Moore's daughter-in-law, Nancy, who was attacked in the basement of the home, remains hospitalized.
The attacks prompted an hours-long manhunt in the Boston suburb. Local and State Police undertook a sweeping manhunt on land and by helicopter. The town notified residents through a reverse 911 phone messaging system that schools had been under lockdown and a killer was loose.
Police arrested William B. Dunn, 41, of Norwood later the same day in a marsh alongside Route 128. He was charged with first-degree murder and has pleaded not guilty, according to his lawyer, Robert Griffin. He is being held without bail at the Norfolk County House of Correction.
A wake for Moore was held yesterday in Eaton Funeral Home in Needham. His funeral was planned for 10 a.m. today in St. Bartholomew Church. In their statement yesterday, family members remembered Moore as a vibrant man whom they called "Pop."
"A moment's encounter with a terrible darkness may have ended his life," Jacobs said, "but it touched nothing essential about him: He remains a radiant light."
Moore's family extended thanks to local and state officials who responded to the attack and expressed compassion for the suspect's family.
"Regarding the person who did this," the family wrote, "there is only this to say: Our hearts ache for the grief and horror of his family, and we wish them healing and peace."
Dunn has a history of mental illness and was voluntarily committed to a Norwood hospital in August after making paranoid statements to his wife, according to a Norwood police report. Phone calls to the family's Norwood home were not returned yesterday. Griffin, his lawyer, said he has not decided whether he would use an insanity defense.
"I haven't seen a police report, a witness statement," Griffin said. "I have no information from the government, other than the allegations in court yesterday. I'm unable to answer that at this point in time."
According to statements made in court earlier this week by Assistant Norfolk District Attorney Michele Armour, Dunn was working for a Quincy lawn irrigation company when he attacked Moore with a baseball bat. Dunn then attacked Nancy Moore with a bat when she came into the basement as he was trying to clean up the scene, Armour said.
Nancy Moore suffered head injuries and was hospitalized at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Jill Finkelstein, who works with Nancy Moore at Prudential Prime Properties Advantage of Needham, said Nancy was unable to go to her father-in-law's wake. Finkelstein said Nancy Moore has not yet been interviewed by Needham police. "She is still in pain," Finkelstein said. "I don't know if she'll be 100 percent.
In the chaotic hours after residents were alerted of the manhunt, police were swamped with phone calls from anxious citizens. That included a phone call from workers at Stone Hearth Pizza, who saw an unfamiliar man they thought had a gun.
Heavily armed Needham police surrounded the pizza shop and took the man into custody at gunpoint. No gun was found, and police later learned that the man was international human rights activist Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an arm of the American Jewish Committee.
A charge of disorderly conduct against Neuer, 37, was dropped Monday. His lawyer, David G. Eisenstadt, said yesterday that Neuer, who lives in Switzerland, was "traumatized and almost killed as a result."
"I assume he's considering his options," Eisenstadt said. "I'm going to be talking to him."
Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com.
