Massachusetts

Worcester Man Charged With Mother's Murder Held Without Bail

A Massachusetts man charged with murdering his mother after she was found beaten to death in the family's Worcester home Saturday night has been ordered held without bail.

John Madulka, 26, was arraigned Tuesday at the Worcester County District Courthouse. At his arraignment, a forensic psychologist who did a mental health evaluation testified that Madulka had been diagnosed with schizophrenia for eight years and had not been taking his medications for seven months.

Police said officers responded to a home on Bailey Street around 11:30 p.m. Saturday after receiving a call from a man who said his son had just murdered his mother.

When police went inside, 56-year-old Ellen Madulka was found dead with blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds around the chest.

"It appeared to the officers that the death was caused by direct trauma," according to an official statement by Worcester Police.

Authorities found John Madulka at the Dunkin Donuts on Chandler Street after the incident and took him to the police station for questioning, where he was arrested.

Police said in their report that Madulka confessed to thinking about killing his mother and that he had struck his mother in the head with a metal staff around 10 times. He also allegedly said he stabbed her with a kitchen knife in the chest three times to make sure she was dead.

Her death was classified as a homicide following an autopsy. 

Neighbors told NBC Boston that they never heard any kind of commotion at the house.

"We knew them. She was a nice lady. She loved her children. Her children were the world to her," said one neighbor.

The family owns Madulka's Ice Cream in Worcester.

During his arraignment, Madulka was ordered to be sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for further mental health evaluation. He's due back in court Jan. 19.

Defense attorney Michael Hussey says his client is "tremendously upset." 

"I think it’s fair to say that he’s sad and confused and he can’t make sense of his actions any more than anybody else can," he said. 

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