Connecticut man accused of killing his mom told police God ‘got into’ him

Kyle Tucker appears in Meriden court on June 11, 2018.

By Jessica Lerner, Hearst Connecticut Media
MERIDEN

A 34-year-old Hamden man arraigned Monday claimed he killed his mother because he was possessed by God, according to the arrest warrant.

God “got into my body and walked me downstairs with my baseball bat and it was very quick and almost even hard to remember,” Kyle Tucker told police during an interview. “I don’t really feel like it was totally my mind or body doing anything, it was [G]od walking through me.”

Tucker was arrested Saturday night after he gave a full confession to killing his mother, Donna Tucker, and burning her body in the fire pit, the arrest warrant affidavit said. Charged with murder and tampering with evidence, Tucker is being held in lieu of $5 million bail.

During arraignment, the defense argued for bail to be lowered to $1 million as Tucker has no prior convictions, but Judge Nada Sizemore decided since the case would be transferred to the Part A docket in New Haven, where more serious cases are heard, “rather quickly” — he will next appear in court June 19 — to leave bail at $5 million.

Donna Tucker was reported missing Friday by her sister, who told police it was unusual for them not to speak for a day. Police issued a news release about her disappearance on Saturday morning. The investigation “shifted dramatically” as the search continued Saturday, police said.

The sister told police she had gone to Donna Tucker’s residence at 128 Broadway St. Thursday evening, after several unsuccessful attempts to reach Donna Tucker. She said Kyle Tucker answered the door and alleged his mother had been picked up by an unknown male after she had been drinking. According to the sister, Donna Tucker wasn’t in any sort of romantic relationship and was not a heavy drinker.

Donna Tucker

The sister said she walked through the residence and noticed the fire pit outside appeared to be smoldering, as if “a fire had been recently lit.” The sister told police she had checked Donna Tucker’s Amazon account, which showed an order for one “Adult Silver SoulBird Female Urn for Human Ashes” purchased with her sister’s credit card for $289, the arrest warrant affidavit said.

Police contacted one of Kyle Tucker’s brothers, who lives in Texas. When the detective asked the brother what he thought had happened to his mother, he said, “My brother killed my mother.”

Donna Tucker’s sister said her nephew has been hospitalized for mental illness and she recently became concerned with his mental stability, as he had spoken openly about “finding the real demon,” according to the warrant affidavit. The brother also said Kyle Tucker commonly makes references to the devil and has been mentally unstable for years, the document said.

The arrest warrant affidavit said three incidents documented by Hamden police between July 2015 and August 2017 reference Kyle Tucker as having a degree of emotional disturbance.

The home at 128 Broadway St. in Hamden

Police went to 128 Broadway St. around 11:15 a.m. Saturday, and Kyle Tucker answered the door. Police told Tucker they were assuming the missing person investigation, and he gave them permission to search the residence. Police checked the fire pit, “which appeared to have human skeletal remains,” and found a large, plastic, yellow gasoline-type container next to the fire pit as well as cleaning containers including bleach inside a garbage can, according to the warrant.

Police then asked Tucker if he would come down to the station, and he agreed. Upon speaking with officers, Tucker initially said he last saw his mother early Friday morning, and she allegedly had told him she might go out with some unknown “druggie.” However, as the interview progressed, Tucker admitted to lying and gave a full confession, the warrant affidavit said.

He said he killed his mother in self-defense as she had allegedly tried to kill him more than 20 times, according to the warrant affidavit. He claimed Donna Tucker would put poison in open containers as well as put parasites into his bedding and in his food. He said he resented his mother because of the way she treated him. The warrant affidavit said no reports were made to the police by Kyle Tucker regarding a poisoning claim nor did he seek medical attention.

Kyle Tucker

He said he saw his mother in the kitchen somewhere between 4:30 to 5 a.m. and then hit her in the head with a baseball bat, according to the warrant affidavit. He said his mother then fell down, lying on her back, and he subsequently hit her in the nose “very hard … to make sure she would die quickly,” the affidavit said.

Tucker said she died a few seconds later, and he then dragged her body to the fire pit and burned it with gasoline, turpentine and wood. Around 3 p.m., he said drove to a gas station to buy more gasoline. He said he burned the body, as well as the baseball bat and the pair of shoes he had been wearing, for around eight hours into a “fine ash.”

Tucker told police he cleaned the kitchen with bleach, vinegar, turpentine and Clorox wipes, and when he couldn’t get all the blood off the wall, he repainted it, according to the warrant affidavit. After a search and seizure warrant was signed, police found blood spatter on the ceiling, fresh paint on one of the walls and the smell of both chemicals and paint in the kitchen, according to the warrant affidavit.

“The investigation is ongoing and active, and we are working in close collaboration with the New Haven State’s Attorney’s office, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and the Connecticut State Police,” Hamden Police Chief Thomas Wydra said Sunday during a press conference.

Superior Court in Meriden