Middleboro

New Details in Case of Middleboro Man Accused of Stabbing Parents to Death

Ryan True faces two charges of murder after his arrest on Thursday morning

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A 21-year-old Massachusetts man accused of stabbing his parents to death was ordered to be held without bail pending a 20-day mental health evaluation.

During an arraignment in Wareham District Court on Friday, a judge ordered Ryan True to be evaluated at Bridgewater State Hospital, a day after authorities found his parents dead in the Middleboro home they shared.

True has been charged with two counts of murder. A voicemail seeking comment was left with his attorney.

True was arrested without incident around noon Thursday after police found the bodies of Renee True, 55, and David True, 52, in their Highland Street home. Prosecutors said Ryan True admitted stabbing his parents to death. The motive is still in question.

Middleboro police made the gruesome discovery after responding to the home for a well-being check. Police Chief Joe Perkins said Thursday that coworkers called them around 6:30 a.m. because one of the victims had not shown up for work.

An officer forced entry into the home and found the bodies.

Prosecutors said one of Ryan True's half brothers claimed he had spoken to him over the phone Thursday morning and that Ryan told his half brother something bad had happened and he was in his mother's car not far away.

"Ryan told him he was the only one who left the house alive," prosecutors said in court Friday.

Another half brother reported to police that he had been unable to get in touch with his father. He said he had spoken to Ryan as well, who told him he had gotten into an altercation with his father on Wednesday.

Ryan allegedly claimed his father was drunk and that he had had enough so he "did what he had to do." He said his mother came home sometime later, and he said he stabbed her as well when she went upstairs to get a gun.

Prosecutors said Ryan fled the scene in his mother's car. He returned to the home on Thursday morning where he was arrested. Investigators said they found two large suitcases, a cell phone and a bloody folding knife inside the vehicle.

A 21-year-old Massachusetts man accused of killing his parents has been ordered to undergo a competency evaluation before his arraignment.

"This is a tragic and horrifying situation for, obviously, the family of the deceased and also here in the town of Middleboro," Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said Thursday. "This is a beautiful little community and this doesn't happen here very often."

David True worked for a paving and excavation company in Easton, who in a Facebook post called him “truly one of the best men we have had the privilege of knowing.”

Renee True drove a bus for kids in town with special needs, neighbor Sarah DaRosa told NBC10 Boston.

"I don't think anybody knew there was anything going on, any issues," she said. "Nice, wonderful people, you can't say anything bad against them."

The investigation is ongoing.

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