BRAINTREE, MASS. (WHDH) - A man accused of fatally shooting his former neighbor, a beloved Weston school nurse, at her home in Braintree is set to face a judge on Thursday.
Robert Bonang, 61, of Marshfield, is slated to be arraigned remotely in Quincy District Court on murder and firearms charges in connection with the death of 59-year-old Laurie Melchionda, according to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.
Bonang allegedly showed up at Melchionda’s Howie Road home just before 11 a.m., wearing a brown uniform similar to those sported by delivery drivers. Sources say he also wore a wig and had a rifle concealed in a cardboard box.
Bonang shot Melchionda in the entryway of her front door, authorities said.
She was taken to South Shore Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Melchionda, who served as the director of health services for Weston Public Schools, was targeted by Bonang, according to Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey. Police have responded to complaints about Bonang in the past.
“I guess they’ve had a number of calls, general neighborhood complaints that he may have been involved in; even a domestic potentially, so that’s obviously being looked at,” Morrissey said.
Those who knew Melchionda said they were shocked to learn she had been killed.
In a statement, Weston Superintendent Dr. Midge Connolly said, “We are reeling from this shocking and devastating news. Please join me in extending our heartfelt sympathies to Laurie’s family.”
Connolly added that grief counselors will be made available in the coming days to assist students and staff with the “range of emotions that accompany such as tragic loss.”
Braintree Mayor Charles Kokoros also released a statement on Melchionda’s death, which read in part, “She was a wonderful mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend to all who knew her, myself included.”
Her former students said she was an incredible woman with the community’s best interest at heart.
“She wasn’t only a school nurse. She was someone you could go to and talk to if you were having a rough time. A shoulder to lean on,” former student Isabella Macchi said. “She was just a great woman.”
Former student Abby Smith added, “She was there for me every single day. She would let me sit and calm down and she would, like, talk me through it and just like, literally, the kindest lady anyone has ever met.”
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