Winchester man charged with killing his family wrote children were in a 'better place'

In the document, prosecutors outlined the final argument between Mortimer and his wife that preceded the brutal violence. Stone-Mortimer, prosecutors wrote, was notified that a $2,499 check the couple sent to the IRS to pay their taxes had bounced.

The money was drawn on an account solely controlled by Mortimer, who had only recently returned to work after a long period of unemployment. The couple argued around dinnertime, but Mortimer convinced Stone-Mortimer to continue the disagreement outside the hearing of their children; Ragna Stone, Stone-Mortimer's mother; and Mortimer's parents, who were visiting from Connecticut.

Prosecutors said the house was calm and that Mortimer's parents left around 7:45 p.m. Mortimer's mother-in-law had telephone conversations with friends -- one of whom heard Charlotte come in and kiss her grandmother good night -- between 8:43 p.m. and 9 p.m.

"It is believed that sometime between 9:05 p.m. June 14, 2010 and 7:10 a.m. on June 15, 2010, the defendant murdered the four residents of 2 Windsong Lane in Winchester,'' prosecutors said in the document.

According to the data pulled from his computer, Mortimer created the document that would hold his confession at 11:06 p.m. He shut the computer down at 3:19 a.m. Several discarded drafts were later found n the house by police.

The deaths of all four were gruesome and violent and apparently committed with a knife, or knives. Police found a "large knife sharpener'' in the family room along with a copy of Mortimer's alleged confession.

In the kitchen, police found another copy of the confession and a "bloody knife with a bent handle in the trash and the letter from the IRS with the returned check.'' After his arrest, two knives were found in the family garage.

The adult woman were stabbed to death while the throats of the children were cut, the state medical examiner's office concluded.

Stone-Mortimer and her son were found in the family room, both lying in pools of their own blood with "severe, cutting type injuries to their bodies.''

Ragna Stone's body was found near the front door, covered by an Oriental rug that had been placed in the front entryway until the killings. "It appeared that Ragna Ellen Stone had been attacked at the front doorway, as she tried to get out of the house,'' prosecutors wrote.

Then, Winchester police "followed a trail of blood up to the second floor where they found a fourth body in a child's crib in one of the four bedrooms,'' prosecutors wrote.

Charlotte Mortimer's body was found in a pool of her blood in her crib, they wrote.

In his typed confession, Mortimer wrote, "What have I done? I hate myself more than ever. I now wish I accepted responsibilities for my actions, dealt with Laura maturally (sic) divorced her, and was a good role model for Finn and Charlotte."

He also wrote, "Ultimately, I did these horrible things because I could not cope with the responsibilities I took upon myself. I was too cavalier with life, especially others lives. What I have done is extremely selfish and cowardly."

He also wrote, "I took the easy way out. I do have remorse with what I have done. I wonder what life would be life if I did not chicken out. But when I try to imagine what life could have been all I envision is sadness, regret of chances missed and despair.''

Mortimer also wrote that he should have poured his frustrations of what it was like living in a dysfunctional family into a book. "Instead of bottling up my anger, frustration, resentment and hatred and letting it fester into one murderous night,'' according to the statement.

Mortimer claimed in the note that he tried to kill himself by running the car in the family garage while the doors were sealed, but that failed. He called in sick to his new job, brushed off efforts by Stone-Mortimer's relatives to speak with the woman and drove out to Western Massachusetts where two Good Samaritans realized he was being sought by police.

After his arrest, the Avon, Conn., native spoke by telephone with parents, Thomas Mortimer III and Sandra Mortimer. When asked by his mother if the dispute was over money, he said "he said that money was part of it. He claimed that he just lost it...''

He also apologized to his parents and said that he was "sorry for wrecking everyone else's lives.''

When arrested, Mortimer had superficial cuts on left wrist and inner thigh.

He declined medical attention.

He is currently being held without bail.