A homicidal family patriarch had become “increasingly controlling” inside his “filthy” northwest Pennsylvania home before opening fire with a weapon — linked to a previous domestic violence allegation — and killing eight people, officials said Thursday.
Matthew Stone, 45, died of a self-inflicted gunshot on Friday evening, bringing a tragic end to years of descent inside his Perry Street house in Erie, authorities said.
Toilets and sinks did not appear to be working and there were 2-liter bottles filled with urine were all over the house, Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said.
“Detectives described the home as extremely filthy,” Lorah told reporters.
Loved ones painted a disturbing picture of Stone’s dominant role inside that house, police said.
“According to relatives, he controlled the family’s finances ... and restricted when family members could leave the residence or spend time with relatives,” Lorah said.
“Family members told detectives that his behavior had been going on for years. They described Matthew becoming increasingly controlling after (wife and victim) Michelle (Stone) became pregnant with their first child. Over time, contact with extended family became more limited. Michelle stopped maintaining contact with friends. Our department also had a record of prior domestic violence incident at that home.”
In that 2019 case, Stone was arrested for allegedly making threats with a .40-caliber handgun. But the case went away when Michelle Stone declined to help press a case, Lorah said.
“A firearm was involved in that case, the same 40-caliber handgun that was used in Friday’s homicides,” Lorah said. “At the preliminary hearing, Michelle changed her original statement and those charges were withdrawn. There were no more recent domestic violence incidents reported to our department. Outside of that 2019 case, Matthew had no criminal history and was legally permitted to possess that firearm.”
Chief Lorah and Mayor Daria Devlin pledged to examine city contacts with Stone to find if anyone could have intervened before Friday’s bloodshed.
“Were there opportunities to recognize that this family was struggling?” Devlin said. “Were there places where our systems could have responded differently and how do we make sure that families in this community who are suffering and struggling like this don’t fall through the cracks?”
The victims included the killer’s wife Michelle Stone, 44; pregnant daughter, Angelina K. Stone, 24; sons Matthew Stone Jr., 21, and Jonathan Stone, 19; sister-in-law Lora Lee Roberts, 37, and her fiend Twila A. Tanner, 51.
Two other unidentified children, a 5-year-old boy and a nearly 2-year-old girl who were also related to the shooter, were killed inside the house, officials said.
Roberts and her friend Tanner had come to the house when Angelina Stone, who was due to give birth on Monday, asked for a ride to the hospital.
“Angelina had been sending messages indicating she planned to leave the family home after giving birth,” Lorah said. “When detectives searched the home following the shooting, they found numerous belongings packed into bags and boxes in Angelina’s bedroom.”
Angelina Stone had also filed paperwork to change her last name to distance herself from her eventual killer.
“In that affidavit, she described concerns about her father’s declining mental health,” Lorah said. “She explained that she wanted to pursue a career in medicine and did not want her association with her father to affect those plans.”