Is there even a chance Alice's mom isn't the witch that cursed him? Or maybe she died from his curse?... A first victim trying to defend him after some other witch cursed him.
@balenol Yeah, I bet I would have gone through a stage like that in his place. Plus it's distinctly possible I would have gone through a "Treat me like dirt 'cause you're terrified? Maybe I should give you all something to be terrified about then!" stage, which he never seems to have and which would have been Really Bad News.