Thomas Mortimer IV, 45, pled guilty to first-degree murder on Oct. 3 in Boston for slaying his wife and two kids, and stabbing his mother-in-law to death in a horrific attack on his family after a financial disagreement with his wife set him into a rage.

According to district attorney Adrienne Lynch, Thomas beat his wife with a frying pan and then stabbed her in the head and body more than 50 times after she confronted him about a $2,499 check he had written to the IRS that bounced.

When his mother-in-law tried to flee the house during the attack, he stabbed her 18 times and dragged her lifeless body back into the house. He then turned the knife on his two-year-old daughter, who was awake in her crib, and his four-year-old son, who witnessed all of the brutal attacks.

Prosecutors say the murders were the result of ongoing marital problems, mostly about finances. The IT specialist had been unemployed for a year, but recently started a job at a software company.

Authorities found a typed note at the scene, in which he wrote, “I did these horrible things. What I have done is extremely selfish and cowardly. I took the easy way out. I am ashamed, frightened, relieved, surprised that I murdered my family, disgusted with myself… it was not supposed to be this way.”

The 45-year-old will spend the rest of his life in jail for the murders that Middlesex Superior Court Judge S. Jane Haggerty described as “unimaginable and gruesome.”

What a tragedy. Do YOU think life in prison is enough HollyMoms?

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