Lorne J. Acquin (March 21, 1950 – June 2015) was an American

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

er who killed his foster brother's wife, her seven children, and their niece in their home at Cedar Hill Drive in Prospect, Connecticut, on July 22, 1977, by beating them to death with a tire iron. He afterward set fire to the building and escaped, but was arrested the following day and sentenced to 105 years in prison two years later. It was the largest mass murder in Connecticut history until the

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...

Murders

On Friday, July 22, 1977, Lorne J. Acquin went to the home of his foster brother Fred Beaudoin, who was at work at the time, and killed the latter's wife Cheryl, their seven children, and a niece of theirs by bludgeoning them to death with a

tire iron A tire iron (also tire lever or tire spoon) is a specialized metal tool used in working with tires. Tire irons have not been in common use for automobile tires since the shift to the use of tubeless tires in the late 1950s. Bicycle tire irons ...

. Acquin also sexually molested one of the children, 10-year-old Sharon Lee Beaudoin, before killing her. He afterward spread gasoline around the house, set it on fire, and escaped. The charred body of Cheryl Beaudoin was later found on the kitchen floor, while the bodies of three children were found in one bedroom, and two more children in another. One further child was found dead in the master bedroom and two more bodies were found in the bathroom. Several of the children, as well as Cheryl Beaudoin, had their hands tied behind their backs. Two of the other children's feet were tied together. All of the children appeared to have head wounds. Within 24 hours, police interviewed more than a hundred witnesses, including Fred Beaudoin and Lorne J. Acquin. The following Sunday night, Acquin agreed to make a statement to police in which he admitted to attacking his sister-in-law and the children. Later that day, he was charged with nine counts of murder and one count of arson. The Supreme Court of Connecticut described the murders as "brutal and apparently motiveless". Prosecutors, however, speculated that Acquin's motivation may have stemmed from the sexual assault of one of the children. Prosecutors speculated that Cheryl may have caught Acquin molesting one of her daughters and, out of fear that she would press charges, Acquin decide to murder the whole family before that could happen.

Victims

* Cheryl Beaudoin, age 29 * Frederick Beaudoin, 12 * Sharon Lee Beaudoin, 10 * Debra Ann Beaudoin, 9 * Paul Beaudoin, 8 * Roderick Beaudoin, 6 * Holly Lyn Beaudoin, 5 * Mary Lou Beaudoin, 4 * Jennifer Santoro, 6

Trial and conviction

Acquin went to

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

on July 16, 1979. He was sentenced to 25 years to life on each murder conviction and 20 years for

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

. He served his sentence in

MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution The MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution is a Level 4 & 5 (high & maximum) security level multi-mission facility for adult males, in Suffield, Connecticut. Based on its inmates population, it is the largest correctional facility in New Engl ...

until his June 2015 death from a severe brain bleed at the UConn Health Center in

Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia *Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States * Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California * Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia ...

References

Bibliography

* Lane, Brian & Gregg, Wilfred
The Encyclopedia of Mass Murder – A Chilling Collection of Mass Murder Cases
Carroll & Graf Publishers, New York, United States, 2004. *Richards, Cara Elizabeth
The Loss of Innocents: Child Killers and Their Victims
Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Acquin, Lorne J. 1950 births 1977 crimes 1977 in Connecticut 1977 murders in the United States 2015 deaths American arsonists American mass murderers American murderers of children American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Crimes in Connecticut Family murders July 1977 events People convicted of murder by Connecticut Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Connecticut Stabbing attacks in the United States