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A Connecticut man is accused of killing his 83-year-old father, marking the first murder the small town has seen in 21 years.
Ridgefield Police responded to a report of a domestic incident at 1am on August 3 at the home of Marc Uricchio, who was pronounced deceased at the scene, authorities said.
His son, Steven James Uricchio, 31, was taken into custody and charged with murder, police said.
He reportedly admitted to officers that he had killed his dad. “I murdered him,” according to a police report obtained by The Hour. Uricchio reportedly paused before adding: “Really, really badly.”
The scene was gruesome. Blood covered the stairs and walls. Authorities also uncovered a filet-style knife — covered in blood — at the top of the stairs. The octogenarian was found lying on the floor of his bedroom — with some of his organs found outside his body. The state’s chief medical examiner’s office determined that the father died from sharp force and blunt force impact to his head, neck, torso and extremities, according to the The News-Times.
After police detained Uricchio, he informed them that he had ingested a quarter of a bottle of Advil that morning. Officers then took him to hospital, where he was evaluated while handcuffed to a hospital bed.
He was later discharged and brought back to the police station, where he was held on $1.5m bond, police said.
What prompted the grisly killing is not immediately clear but police are investigating the incident.
The 31-year-old appeared in court on Monday but did not enter a plea, court records show. In court, his attorney mentioned that his client had a “significant mental health history,” according to The Hour. The judge ordered a mental competency test to see whether Uricchio was fit to stand trial.
His attorney later told reporters that the matter was “a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.”
The Independent has emailed the attorney for further comment.
“We want to reassure everyone that this was an isolated incident and there is no danger to the public,” police said. This week’s murder marked the first that the 25,000-person town had seen since 2003, Ridgefield Police Captain Jeffrey Raines told The News-Times.
Such an incident “shakes the town up. This is a very safe community,” Raines added.
The town’s First Selectperson Rudy Marconi called the disturbing death “a shocking occasion here. It’s a situation, an incident that we’re not used to.”
“It’s a shocking occasion here. A very sad day for the family, for the individuals involved. The community will move forward,” Marconi added. “My condolences to the rest of the family for whatever they are going through.”
Last year, the town was at the top of the “Safest Cities in America“ list, according to one survey.
