New student Philip Chism, teen killer of beloved teacher Colleen Ritzer, has been charged as an adult and held without bail in her brutal after-school slaying.
Authorities are actively investigating the possibility that the young man may have had a crush on his teacher, and fatally attacked her in revenge when she spurned his advances.
According to police, Chism, who is just 14-years-old but stands well over 6-feet tall, was captured on video following an unsuspecting Ritzer into a second-floor bathroom at Danvers high school in Massachusetts, where he brutally assaulted and murdered the popular young math instructor.
He then wheeled her bloody body out of the building in a trash receptacle, dumped it in the adjacent woods, and went to see a Woody Allen movie.
The towering youth, who'd just moved to Massachusetts from Tennessee this spring, was apprehended on the side of a highway not long thereafter.
On Wednesday Philip Chism appeared handcuffed but unemotional during his court arraignment and entered a plea of not guilty.
Today, the Danvers school system is closed again while that stricken community mourns the tragic and senseless death of one of its most inspiring young faculty members.
Police continue to investigate her vicious murder and the 'oddly quiet' juvenile killer's motive, if any.
ORIGINAL STORY POSTED ON 10/24/13 -
I am truly, truly horrified by this and asking quite seriously why does someone do something like that...for real. And my personal conclusion is that he was NOT infatuated with her, and that he was a teenage sociopath. Facts are is that he was a sociopath, he killed her in cold blood, punched her in the face, slashed her throat, put her in a recycling bin and threw her into the woods. This is not teenage infatuation. This is the work of a real sociopath. I would say her exuberance for the subject she taught, her kindness and attentiveness set off some sort of deep seated rage and he acted out. Sociopaths don't form attachments, sociopaths don't experience love the way you and I might, Sociopaths have no conscience. This was the work of someone who had no conscience.
ReplyDeleteWell said, and personally I agree with your assessment -- the fact that Chism also destroyed Ritzer's cellphone and his own may as well indicate a motive other than the unrequited *love* theory.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I'm speculating that he attacked his teacher in the bathroom for fear she was calling someone from there to report something worrisome he'd just said or done.
Every single action the boy took on that day -- and admitted to taking -- was coldblooded in nature, and the evidence even suggests that these were all premeditated.
Youngsters like him perpetrating such violence are a new breed of offender for certain, and they definitely possess pathological traits and personalities.
Although experts don't yet agree on what exactly is causing this troubling new crime trend, we ourselves may want to take a good hard look at the over-abundance of violent media and the negative effect it has on developing minds.
Thank you for dropping by today and for posting your insightful comment --
E.R.
UPDATES 10/25/13: Because the investigation into the Ritzer murder is still ongoing, very few new facts are emerging now, and many conflicting reports have begun surfacing instead. The following have thus far been confirmed:
ReplyDeleteColleen Ritzer was attacked from behind in a bathroom sometime after her last class and before four o'clock. She was beaten and her throat cut and had other injuries. Police say video cams captured the suspect, Philip Chism, 14, both entering the lavatory after the victim and leaving it shortly thereafter covered with blood. He was also spied on camera a short time later wearing fresh clothing and wheeling a trash bin out of the facility.
That bin and Ms. Ritzer's body were recovered from a wooded embankment on or near school grounds after Chism was questioned and subsequently arrested.
In the many hours prior to his apprehension, Chism reportedly went to a fast food restaurant and a movie, each of those recreations funded with the victim's ATM card which he is said to have stolen on the same day of her killing. He also smashed Ritzer's cellphone as well as his own.
The motive for this brutal crime spree is still being explored. Official theories range from a sex attraction/assault to outright revenge, although police have refused to provide any other specifics.
Despite rumors of a pattern of detentions and other school infractions, the youth's uncle claims he is "a perfect boy" and expressed the belief that the 14-year-old was railroaded into confessing to a crime he didn't commit.
This has been known to happen before, but in the present case, with over 130 surveillance cameras on the Danvers High School premises, and other incriminating forensic evidence, it's highly unlikely Philip Chism is being framed.
Add your own opinions and verified updates below.
UPDATE 10/28/13: Funeral services for Colleen Ritzer are set for today, Monday, at 10 AM in Massachusetts. Her family has also established a scholarship fund in her name.
ReplyDeleteAs yet no motive has been disclosed in the slain math teacher's grisly assault by her 14-year-old student, Philip Chism. He remains in police custody; his mother announced over the weekend through her attorneys that she is "heartbroken."
E.R.
savage beast
ReplyDeleteQuite right -- he masked himself, raped and murdered her, then 'staged' the body dump .. among other things.
DeleteI'll be providing a separate more in depth update for this case within 24 hours, but this kid has surely killed before and needs to be put down, or away.
E.R.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteFORTY TO 50 YEARS SENTENCING FOR THIS SADISTIC TEEN SERIAL KILLER IS A START, BUT NOT ENOUGH...
ReplyDeleteRIP, COLLEEN RITZER, HOPEFULLY YOUR SICK KILLER [PHILIP CHISM] WILL BE BRUTALLY RAPED & KILLED IN PRISON.
E.R.