GUILTY MA - Barbara McAveeney, 70, beaten to death in her Winchester home, 14 Oct 2014

WOBURN (CBS) – A man who admits to killing his mother and his cats wants to plead guilty, but he has an unusual request.

Matthew McAveeney, 46, is charged with beating his 70-year-old mother to death last October in her Winchester apartment.
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He told the judge he plans to plead guilty, but he wants the names of the two dead cats added to his indictment.

“The animals are, were, living beings. They had lives, they had personalities, they had identities and if I’m going to be convicted of killing them, I would like them to be known for what they were, you know, who they were, by their names,” McAveeney said in court.

The judge is going to allow that, but she ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation before she accepts his guilty plea.
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Matthew McAveeney, the Winchester man who allegedly murdered his mother and her two cats and confessed to the crimes in front of reporters, has plead guilty to first-degree murder, assault and battery, according to the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

He has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, reports say.

On Friday, Nov. 18, Judge Laurence Pierce sentenced McAveeney, 48, in Middlesex Superior Court on the charge of first degree murder of his mother Barbara McAveeney, age 70. Judge Pierce also sentenced the defendant to 4 to 5 years in state prison on the charges of animal cruelty and assault and battery on a person over the age of 60.

“With today’s plea, Matthew McAveeney has taken responsibility for brutally beating his mother to death before fleeing the state," Ryan said. “We are grateful to all the law enforcement agencies that worked together to bring the defendant into custody and to return him to Massachusetts and we hope that today’s plea brings some closure to the friends and loved ones of Barbara McAveeney.”

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