“Mr. Medina was found lying on his back, on the floor, with his shirt soaked in blood and his throat was slit,’’ Craig Kowalski, assistant Norfolk district attorney, said at Rudolph’s arraignment in Quincy District Court yesterday.

Donald Rudolph - accused of killing his mother, Paula; his sister, Caylin; and his mother’s boyfriend, Frederick Medina - stared motionlessly as prosecutors described the scene of the crime.

QUINCY - Horrific details emerged yesterday about a triple killing Thursday in Weymouth, eliciting gasps and tears from relatives of the victims seated in a courtroom.

Kowalski’s description drew a loud gasp from Medina’s sister, who was standing in the back of the packed courtroom. Kowalski continued, saying that Medina had been stabbed several times in the torso and that a Beanie Baby toy had been stuffed in his mouth.


Kowalski said Weymouth police arrived at 10 Upland Road Thursday night at the request of anxious neighbors. There, they found Rudolph, stained with blood, in the basement and persuaded him to come outside.

There, he allegedly said to the officers: “I [expletive] up. I [expletive] up. I [expletive] up. You will see when you go inside the house.’’

The prosecutor went on to describe how authorities found the defendant’s mother, Paula Rudolph, 50, and his sister, Caylin Rudolph, 24, inside the detached garage. Both women had suffered blunt-force trauma to the head, but Caylin, like Medina, had other wounds.

“There was an extreme amount of stab wounds to Mr. Medina’s body, as well as Caylin Rudolph’s body,’’ said Kowalski. Officers found a bloody hammer and a bloody knife next to Medina’s body and more knives nearby, he said.

Medina, 52, had lived at the Rudolph residence for at least four years, said Medina’s relatives. Donald Rudolph had previously lived in foster care in Easton and then with his father in Quincy, but in recent weeks, according to neighbors, he had started hanging around his mother’s house.


At the start of the arraignment, Rudolph, wearing a dark green, baggy cotton sweatsuit, glanced once at the surviving members of his immediate family, his father and his sister, seated in the front row of the courtroom. Brittany Rudolph, who was attending college in New Hampshire when the killings occurred, began to cry after seeing her brother, his hands cuffed in front of his body and surrounded by court officers.

A court clinician who evaluated Rudolph questioned his competency to stand trial, telling Judge Diane Moriarty that she doubted whether the defendant understood what was going on.

John Darrell, Rudolph’s lawyer, pleaded not guilty on his client’s behalf and said during the arraignment that Rudolph has a “long, long history’’ of mental health issues. He said Rudolph had expressed shock when told of the killings. Darrell said Rudolph apparently has no memory of his alleged involvement in the killings.

Rudolph was charged with three counts of murder and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and was held without bail. Moriarty ordered him sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for a mental competency evaluation, with a status update hearing set for Dec. 2.

After the arraignment, Darrell ushered Brittany Rudolph and other family members to his office about a block from the courthouse. The family declined to comment.


Donald Rudolph had exhibited troubling behavior over the past few years, including breaking into houses and punching a foster father who had been caring for him, according to friends and neighbors.

In April, Rudolph allegedly used his pellet gun to shoot a woman walking home on Washington Street. He also allegedly shot at another passerby. According to a police report, Rudolph admitted to officers that he fired at both people. Two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, stemming from the incidents, are still pending.

In 2006, the Department of Children and Families became involved with the Rudolph family and provided services for six months. In 2008, the department again became involved and provided services through 2010, said Cayenne Isaksen, spokeswoman for the agency, who declined to specify which services were provided. In 2009, Rudolph was placed in specialized foster care with Lutheran Social Services, which included placement in the home of Ronnie Lippett, a former New England Patriots cornerback.

Lippett, 50, said Rudolph lived with him until July 2010, when the teenager attacked him and, according to Lippett, broke his jaw. Lippett obtained a restraining order against Rudolph.

In Dec. 2010, after Rudolph turned 18, he requested support through Children and Families that continued through May.

Brian R. Ballou can be reached at bballou@globe.com.