Guilty plea in Boston family deaths

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WOBURN, Mass., Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A Boston-area man pleaded guilty to killing his wife, two young children and mother-in-law, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Middlesex Superior Court Judge S. Jane Haggerty said Wednesday there will be no chance of parole or appeal for Thomas Mortimer IV, who pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, the Boston Herald reported Thursday.

"This is the end of the road for you. ... There'll be no appeal," she said.

Mortimer admitted he stabbed his wife, Laura Mortimer, and mother-in-law, Ragna Ellen Stone to death and slashed the throats of his two children, Thomas "Finn," Mortimer, 4, and Charlotte Mortimer, 2, in 2010.

In a confession letter police found at the scene in the family's Winchester home, Thomas Mortimer said he exploded into rage when his wife confronted him about a bounced $2,499 check they sent to the Internal Revenue Service, The Boston Globe reported.

"I took the easy way out. ... I am ashamed, frightened, relieved, surprised that I murdered my family, disgusted with myself,'' he wrote.