Thomas Humphrey (Goffstown Police Dept.) and authorities at the home where he killed his mother (WDHD screenshot)
A 47-year-old man in New Hampshire may spend the remainder of his days behind bars for killing his own mother, stabbing her more than 20 times and nearly decapitating the 70-year-old woman after the two got into an argument about the volume at which he was playing a video game.
New Hampshire Superior Court Judge N. William Delker on Tuesday ordered Thomas Humphrey to serve a sentence of 40 years to life in a state correctional facility for the slaying of Linda Tufts, authorities announced.
Humphrey previously pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder over the fatal attack. He also pleaded guilty to one count of felony arson for burning his mother’s body and was subsequently handed a suspended sentence of five to 10 years in prison, to be served consecutive to the life sentence.
According to a report from Manchester ABC affiliate WMUR, Delker took the opportunity to address the barbarity of Humphrey’s actions during Tuesday’s sentencing hearing.
“This is, as I said, in my more than a decade on the bench, one of the most brutal murders that I’ve presided over,” her reportedly said. “The brutality of this crime simply makes it too dangerous not to impose a very lengthy state prison sentence.”
Humphrey had been living in the basement of his mother’s home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, prior to her death.
On the afternoon of Dec. 4, 2023, Humphrey was reportedly playing the PlayStation console that Tufts had given him for his 47th birthday when things took a turn for the worse. The reportedly two got into an argument over how loud Humphrey’s video game was when the 47-year-old man went into a rage and stabbed Tufts 22 times. After the stabbing, Humphrey lit his mother’s body on fire in the home.
Police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel at about 2:20 p.m. responded to the single-family home and, upon arriving at the scene, found an active fire. After extinguishing the fire and entering the home, authorities conducting a safety check found an adult female in the home — later identified as Tufts — who appeared to be dead from apparent stab wounds.
Humphrey was also located inside of the home holding a knife. He appeared to have suffered self-inflicted stab wounds and was transported to a local hospital for treatment before being charged in his mother’s death.
A neighbor told Boston NBC affiliate WHDH that Humphrey’s parents had previously kicked him out of their house and only recently allowed him to move back in with them. Humphrey’s father was reportedly at work at the time of the fatal attack.
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