CAPITAL REGION (NEWS10) — We are learning more about the Albany man accused of beating his 82-year-old grandfather while inside the elderly man’s Colonie home.

Nicholas Pantoni is accused of beating his grandfather Gerald Curran to death during an argument in Curran’s Colonie home. While still conscious, Curran spoke with police. Then, they narrowed in on Pantoni and he was arrested at the City Mission in Albany and charged with first-degree assault.

Pantoni has been charged with assault but charges are expected to be upgraded. Delving into his past, it’s clear Pantoni may have been scarred or influenced by a deep history of family violence—most notably through step-father Clifford Burns. On Christmas Eve, 2013 Burns stabbed and killed Pantoni’s mother, Patrica Burns—in front of his half-siblings.

Retired Warren County investigator Steve Stockdale recalls how Burns turned himself in to the Sheriff’s office right after the murder. “He was mad at her and he just came unglued,” he said.

Burns is currently serving 23 years to life in prison. Much like his stepson, Burns himself was also raised around brutal violence. In 1984, his father, James Burns, took his own life during a shootout with Colonie Police after a failed attempt to kidnap his wife.

Ed Sim is the Deputy Mayor for Village of Colonie. Back in 1984, he was a Colonie Police investigator who was shot by Burns during that shoot-out. “As she got to me, I got her to the ground. My partner returned fire. And as he did that, the driver shot himself,” said Sim.

Sim said he hopes that with Pantoni’s arrest, the cycle of violence will end.