Kriti Mehrotra
When Elizabeth “Beth” Anne Lochtefeld was suddenly found dead inside her beautiful Nantucket, Massachusetts, cottage on October 25, 2004, it honestly shocked the entire nation to its core. After all, as carefully profiled in NBC’s ‘Dateline: Fatal Attraction,’ there hadn’t been a single homicide on the island city for over two decades, and she’d been stabbed a total of 23 times. So now, if you simply wish to learn more about her perpetrator — her allegedly alcoholic, abusive, controlling ex-boyfriend Thomas “Tom” Toolan III — we’ve got the necessary details for you.
Who is Thomas Toolan?
It was reportedly on Labor Day weekend 2004 (early September) when Thomas Toolan came across Elizabeth “Beth” Anne Lochtefeld for the first time through a mutual friend, just for them to quickly fall head over heels in love. The truth is the 37-years-old seemed rather successful thanks to not only his charm but also his background in finance, both of which drew her due to her own standing as a thriving entrepreneur. He’d actually attended private schools before graduating from Columbia University, leading to his career track as a broker, a Wall Street Bank Executive, and finally, an Investment Consultant.
However, Thomas did have a deep flaw — he struggled a lot with alcohol, something he’d made clear to Beth from the get-go because he even had a (non-violent) criminal history because of it. He was apparently caught trying to steal a Roman bust worth more than $80,000 at a Park Avenue, New York City, antique show in 2001, for which he ended up pleading guilty to disorderly conduct. Yet, his date didn’t seem to mind it one bit initially, as she genuinely believed she could help him work through it if they stuck together — she was a “fixer” by nature, according to her brother.
Thus began Tom and Beth’s whirlwind romance, filled with conversations of marriage as well as kids, a trip to California, and much more within two weeks despite their seven-year age gap. It was ostensibly because of this deep dive that it took the latter some time to notice the red flags, but they were there — intense jealousy, drunken rage, plus mental, physical, and sexual abuse. The latter two purportedly came in mid-October 2004, and that’s when she decided to call things off for good; but alas, a mere two days following her leaving him for good, he stabbed her to death.
Thomas Toolan is Currently Incarcerated
As per records, Thomas Toolan had flown from his base in New York to Nantucket on the morning of October 25, 2004, before renting a car, purchasing knives, rushing to Beth’s place, and then fleeing to the airport. From there, he caught a short flight to the small port village of Hyannis, Massachusetts, where he rented another vehicle and just drove until he was located-arrested in Rhode Island mere hours later. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until February 10, 2005, that he was formally charged with first-degree murder, along with assault with a dangerous weapon, only for him not to plead guilty.
In the end, Tom stood trial for the counts against him in 2007, where a forensic toxicologist estimated he had a blood alcohol level of .30 at the time of the homicide, nearly four times the legal limit. On the other hand, though, the defense tried to argue he was actually not legally sane, let alone criminally responsible, at the time owing to his profound impairment from the drugs and alcohol. “He would take whatever drugs that he could get his hands on…,” as per the ‘Dateline’ episode. “Methamphetamines, Benzodiazepine, Paxel, and Zoloft. He would take dog tranquilizers if he was able to get a prescription for the dog.”
Yet, in the end, the jury sided with Nantucket Superior Court prosecutors and found Tom guilty, resulting in him receiving a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. The felon was obviously unhappy with this decision, but luckily for him, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned the original verdict in 2011 prior to ordering a new trial. This re-trial took place in 2013, and it concluded with the same verdict as before on June 10, meaning the former Investment Consultant remains behind bars; he’s currently incarcerated at the medium-security Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Shirley (MCI-S) in Middlesex County, where he’s expected to stay for the rest of his natural life.
Read More: Beth Lochtefeld Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her?
