Goffstown

Man accused of stabbing mother to death at NH home

First responders found Linda Tufts dead, as well as an active fire, at their home on Joffre Street in Goffstown on Tuesday, officials have said

Police at the scene of a suspicious death investigation in Goffstown, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023.
NBC10 Boston via stringer

A man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing his mother to death at their home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, this week, prosecutors announced Friday.

Thomas Humphrey, 47, is facing a charge of second-degree murder in the killing of his mother, 70-year-old Linda Tufts, at their home on Tuesday, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office and state and local police.

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He's due in court in Manchester on Monday, officials said. It wasn't immediately clear if Humphrey had an attorney who could speak to the charge.

Authorities didn't share more information about the killing. They'd previously announced that Tufts' death was considered a homicide.

Linda Tufts' cause of death was multiple stab and incised wounds, and the manner of her death was homicide, officials announced Wednesday.

New Hampshire State Police's major crime unit was still at Tufts' Joffre Street home on Wednesday, a day after the alleged stabbing, taking photos and collecting evidence.

Goffstown police were initially called to the single-family residence around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday and found Tufts dead, as well as an active fire, officials have previously said.

Officers extinguished the fire and conducted a safety check of the home, at which point they found Humphrey also inside. The 47-year-old was alive but injured, officials have said, and he was hospitalized for treatment for apparent self-inflicted knife wounds.

An autopsy performed Wednesday determined Tufts died from multiple stab and incised wounds, and her manner of death was homicide, officials said.

Both Tufts and Humphrey lived in the Joffre Street home where they were found.

Police in Goffstown, New Hampshire, say they found a woman dead inside of a home on Tuesday. They say her death is considered suspicious.

Neighbors previously told NBC10 Boston that an older husband and wife live at the home, as well as their adult son who had just moved back in.

"She was always joking and laughing. She was 71 years old. She was a sweet lady if you got to know her, talk to her," Chia Guy told NBC10 Boston.

"They had their son there for a while, they kicked him out and then they just recently, you know she felt sorry for him so she had him come back in," Guy shared.

He added that her husband, who was at work at the time of the killing, is heartbroken.

"He's hanging in there as best as he can I just got off the phone with him," Guy said.  

Michelle Toto, who lives across the street, said the scene was chaotic.

"All of a sudden, we saw some police cars come up. Cops running," Toto said. "We could hear them saying, you know, they're trying to get in. They had guns drawn."

"This is not the type of street, dead end, we all know each other," she added. "Honestly it's extremely eerie, like goosebumps but like not the goosebumps."

She said her husband told her someone else at the home had stab wounds.

Another neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified, said, "My phone has been blowing up from friends and other neighbors just saying, 'My gosh, are you OK? Is everything OK?' It's nerve wracking. Of course, you don't usually see stuff like this happen on your home street."

Toto said she hasn't had any issues with the family that lives at the home that had become the center of a police investigation: "Very nice people. I can't imagine, it's heart-wrenching."

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