A judge in Massachusetts ordered a man to be held without bail after being charged with murdering his mother.
Thadeus Joseph, 23, appeared in court on March 5 as prosecutor Christine Cullen described the bloody scene at the Avon home of Astrid Joseph, 53, who was discovered dead on March 4.
Cullen told the judge, “There was a pool of blood on the floor next to her head, and a carving knife with blood on it next to her body,” according to Boston ABC affiliate WCVB.
The same day, Cullen stated that Astrid Joseph’s husband, Yval Smith, received a distressing phone call from his wife and allegedly heard his son say, “I have your phone.” Yval Smith then heard his wife say, ‘I’m your mother. “Give me the phone” before the call was disconnected.
The next time he saw his wife, she had died.
According to Cullen’s court testimony, Yval Joseph informed police that his son had expressed concerns to his parents about his own mental health in the days preceding the incident at their family home, including thoughts of self-harm.
Cullen stated that Thadeus Joseph informed his parents on the day of his mother’s death that he was “taking the morning off for a mental health day.”
Yval Joseph received a distressing phone call around 10 a.m. on March 4, and he rushed home after the call was disconnected, according to WBX, a local CBS affiliate.
“There were signs of a struggle,” according to Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey, at the Joseph family home. Yval Joseph discovered his wife on the floor, and the family car was gone.
Thadeus Joseph was not on the scene when his father and police arrived. Officers discovered him about four hours later at a shopping center in a nearby town.
Cullen described Thadeus Joseph’s behavior while being booked as “erratic,” claiming that he told officers, “This is so funny. All I had to do was kill my mother, and this was it… Is that [sic] stomping her face in?
The judge ordered Thadeus Joseph to be held without bail until his next court date on April 10.
