BY BENJAMIN PAULIN / THE ENTERPRISE – 7/27/16
By Benjamin Paulin
The Enterprise • July 27, 2016
BROCKTON, MA — A Brockton man who fatally stabbed his father in the chest with a knife in 2014 was acquitted of 1st Degree Murder Charges Wednesday afternoon.
The bench trial for Amilton Goncalves, 23, began Tuesday in Brockton Superior Court and ended Wednesday with Judge Cornelius Moriarty finding him guilty of manslaughter and assault and battery.
Authorities said Amilton Goncalves fatally stabbed his father, 44-year-old Joaopedro Goncalves, once in the chest during an altercation in front of their home at 16 Louis St. on June 23, 2014.
Goncalves Attorney defended the case on the basis that the killing was a Manslaughter, not a murder. The Defense contended that Goncalves stabbed his father during an argument that led to a Mutual Combat situation. Goncalves himself confessed multiple times to stabbing his father but claimed he never planned it and that it happened in the heat of the moment.
The deadly incident was preceded by an argument earlier in the day about Amilton playing music too loudly in the house the night before, police said.
Joaopedro Goncalves had threatened to call the police about the loud music and Amilton said he was going to kill him if he called the police, Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Catherine Ham said during his arraignment in 2014 in Brockton District Court.
As Joaopedro went outside to call police about 3:30 p.m., Ham said, Amilton punched his mother twice in the face as she was trying to block her son from walking out the door after him.
His mother was taken to the hospital and Amilton left the house and went to his cousin’s house in Dorchester. A warrant for his arrest was issued by police on two counts of assault and battery. He returned to the house later that night around 9 p.m.
Amilton Goncalves confronted his father on the front lawn of their home and an altercation ensued and he pulled out a pairing knife and stabbed his father once in the chest, police said.
Amilton was arrested by police on nearby Ames Street. Investigators found a small serrated paring knife with a black handle about 6 inches in total length near the crime scene.