'He had the intention of killing her.' Westborough man held in hotel parking lot slaying

MARLBOROUGH — Prosecutors say a Westborough man lured his mother to a Marlborough hotel on Thursday with the intention of killing her, saying he brutally beat her, tried to stab her and ran her over twice with her own truck in the hotel parking lot.

Prosecutors on Friday also upgraded the charges against Daniel Uhlman, 53, charging him with murder in the death of his mother, Nancy Uhlman, 82, also of Westborough.

Prosecutor Megan McGovern, during Uhlman's Marlborough District Court arraignment, described the events on Thursday at the Holiday Inn on Lakeside Avenue (Route 20).

McGovern said hotel employees called police at 12:38 p.m. after Uhlman walked into the lobby with blood on his hands and told the staff he had just killed his mother in the back parking lot.

Uhlman, McGovern said, admitted to killing his mother. He told police that he had been living at the Holiday Inn since the beginning of May. On Thursday, he called his mother to come to the hotel to talk.

"He had the intention of killing her at this point," McGovern said.

Earlier: Westborough man facing charges in connection to his mother's death in Marlborough

She arrived at 10:30 a.m. and the pair sat in her pickup truck and talked, then Uhlman told his mother he had to go inside to get cigarettes. Instead, he went inside to grab a butter knife he had stolen from the hotel earlier in the month so that he could use it as a weapon, the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors describe suspect's attack on his mother

When he returned to his mother's truck, he asked her to drive to the rear of the hotel so they could smoke in privacy. Once there, Uhlman got out of the truck to smoke his cigarette.

He then went around to the driver's side of the vehicle, dragging his mother from it, McGovern said.

"At that point, he slammed her head and face into the pavement 20 times," she said.

Uhlman then tried to stab his mother with the butter knife, but she was able to fight and take the knife from him, McGovern said. But Uhlman then ran to the driver's seat of the pickup and and rammed his mother once, then a second time "to make sure she was dead," McGovern said.

When paramedics arrived, Nancy Uhlman had suffered "significant trauma" and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Held without bail: Westborough man accused of stabbing mother held without bail

Authorities initially charged Uhlman with armed assault to murder a person older than 60 years old; two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury; and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person older than 60.

The court entered a not-guilty plea on Uhlman's behalf.

McGovern said the state medical examiner, while still working to complete the autopsy, determined the death was a homicide and then the murder charge was added.

A conviction for first-degree murder results in an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

McGovern asked Judge Pacifico DeCapua to hold Uhlman without bail.

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Suspect is ordered to undergo competency exam

Uhlman's lawyer, Joe Perullo, requested that  DeCapua to have Uhlman undergo a competency exam.

Forensic psychologist Hilary Novak said Uhlman has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and is a client of the state Department of Public Health. She said Uhlman told her he stopped taking his medication 20 days ago.

Uhlman, she said, is experiencing auditory hallucinations that are telling him "to cause harm to himself or others."She said that while in his current condition, he could not assist in his own defense and she recommended sending him to Bridgewater State Hospital for a full competency exam.

DeCapua agreed, ordering Uhlman to be sent to Bridgewater and to be held without bail. Uhlman is due back in court on June 21 for a competency hearing.

Uhlman has had a history of violence against his mother.

Uhlman, a divorced father of six, was convicted in July 2014 for assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over age 60. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

The charges stemmed from a January 2014 attack on his mother in which he stabbed the then 72-year-old Nancy Uhlman several times in the face and the abdomen with steak knives in their Westborough home.

Perullo declined to comment about the allegations.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Westborough man held in parking lot slaying of his mother