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Family on apparent murder-suicide: 'we are shocked, he loved him so much'

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A father and his 6-year-old son were found dead in a Foxborough home Thursday night.

Police 49-year old William Scaccia shot and killed his son, Anthony, and then tried to set the house on fire, before shooting himself in the head.

“He loved him so much, he would never leave him,” William’s stepmother, Carol Scaccia, told Boston 25 News by phone Friday night. “He was an excellent dad. Everywhere you went, you saw his son’s picture.”

Neighbors say the 6-year-old boy lived in the home with his mother and grandmother. Richard Shain told Boston 25 News the boy's grandmother ran over to his house for help.

MORE: Affidavit: Foxborough mother feared father would kill son, self

“I knew that he hadn't been alive for a couple of hours maybe,” he said. “There was so much blood. His eyes were completely closed. He was not breathing.”

The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said police found a suicide note at the scene.

Scaccia's stepmother says he was in the military for 20 years, had a master’s degree in nursing and loved the outdoors.

“[He] helped everybody that needed help,” she said.

Just last week, Scaccia was arrested for alleged assault on his girlfriend's brother during a family party. Police later found Scaccia at the East Street home sleeping in his jeep.

Boston 25 also uncovered a restraining order from Scaccia's wife in 2013.

It reads, "he would take our son and disappear … and he would kill Anthony and himself."

“That's why we are shocked, he loved him so much,” Carol said. “You saw Billy, you saw Anthony.”

Foxborough police say Scaccia was denied a gun permit because of his prior history and his stepmother says father and son were like glue.

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