An Amesbury man allegedly stabbed his mother to death — and stabbed and injured his stepfather — over the weekend.

John Brittan, 27, is being charged with murder, assault and battery on a person over 60, and assault with intent to murder, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. He was expected to be arraigned in Newburyport District Court on Monday.

Amesbury police were called to 23 Chester St. around 4:06 p.m. on Saturday for a report of a stabbing. There, they found a woman, later identified as Barbara Diehl-Peirce, 65, who lived at the home where the incident took place, and her husband, Brittan’s stepfather, who has not been publicly identified by authorities.


Diehl-Perice was taken by medical helicopter to Boston Medical Center with what were life-threatening injuries at the time; she died later that night. Her husband was brought to Portsmouth Hospital with serious injuries not believed to be life-threatening.