MA Man Sentenced for Grisly Murder, Assault & Burning of Cousin's Wife and Children

Mathew Locke was sentenced Thursday in Worcester, after being convicted of four counts of first-degree murder under three theories, including deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity and cruelty, and felony murder, with the underlying felonies being armed burglary and aggravated rape.

He was also found guilty on the charge of armed burglary and arson of a dwelling.

The victims are Sara Bermudez, 38, Madison Bermudez, 8, James Bermudez, 6, and Michael Bermudez, 2, whose bodies were all found stabbed to death in their West Brookfield home on March 1, 2018.

Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. called their deaths "some of the most heinous ever seen by this office."

Bermudez was out of town on business when his family was killed, with Sara Bermudez's father-in-law finding the bodies of her and her children in the burned primary bedroom of their home.

Warning: Graphic details to follow.

According to police testimony during the trial, one of the child victims appeared badly burned, while both Sara and her daughter were nude from the waist down.

The two female victims had allegedly been stabbed dozens of times and raped with a knife. Testimony from a medical examiner suggested the two were alive during the attack. Locke's DNA was "consistent" with a sample swabbed from both victims' genitals.

The two boys were also stabbed numerous times, with some wounds cutting through their bodies entirely.

Locke is accused of dousing the victims with gasoline, before setting the room on fire. By the time the bodies were discovered, the blaze had extinguished on its own.

Locke denied being the killer, with the defense arguing the DNA evidence wasn't a strong enough link and claimed Locke had no clear motive for the crime. Bermudez also suggested the MS-13 gang was responsible for the grisly murders at one point, though he later said during testimony he was drunk and grieving when he floated out that idea.

Prosecutors alleged Locke was high on cocaine at the time and was possibly looking for money, drugs or to settle some kind of score.

A female cousin of Locke's who testified during the trial claimed the two were doing cocaine the day of the murder; she also shared text messages in which he appeared to arrange for her to have sex with other men for money, as well as express his own sexual interest in her.

Giving a victim's impact statement before sentencing this week, Locke's cousin, Moses Bermudez, said "there's a special place in hell for people that do things like this," referring to the grisly murder of his entire family.

"I don't wish for anybody to be in this position, not even my worst enemy," he added, while showing a photo of him with his wife and kids in front of their Christmas tree, per the Telegram & Gazette.

"Where do I go from here?" he reportedly asked aloud.

During the sentencing hearing, Locke's cousin Malinda Mathieson said, "Drugs are an awful thing. I'm very sorry this has torn our family apart."

"I pray somehow God finds some forgiveness for you," she reportedly added. "But at this time, I cannot forgive you. I'm sorry."