GUILTY MA - Colleen Ritzer, 24, brutally murdered, Danvers, 22 Oct 2013 #1

[FragileSugar]

Prosecutors: Suspect Was Student of Slain Teacher

The article title is misleading as there is nothing that says he was a student in her class. I did find this interesting:

Court documents from the suspect's arraignment say prosecutors have surveillance video of the teacher going into the bathroom. Five minutes later, the suspect went into that bathroom.

My first thought was that maybe she caught him doing something - maybe cheating, stealing, etc. According to this article, HE followed HER into the restroom. I've read that he used box cutters to assault her. What kind of kid walks around with box cutters? I wonder if this was planned. It definitely doesn't sound like a spur of the moment thing.

Regardless what a waste. A well loved teacher is gone.

 

[FragileSugar]

Hmm... I've been looking for info on him online and can't find anything. I did search #philipchism on twitter and a few tweets reference a possible motive.

 

[Trident]

Philip Chism: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

I'm not sure how reliable this heavy.com website is but they have a timeline of the night of the murder and what looks like a copy of the Statement of Facts and the criminal complaint.

One of the tweets from that site asked (paraphrasing) why? Philip let he/she down. Methinks Philip let no one but himself down. Sometimes I believe we rely too much on the opinions/faulty assessments that others give to ourselves. All any of us can do is be true to ourselves - I believe Shakespeare said it better.

 

[ecco]

Philip Chism: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

I'm not sure how reliable this heavy.com website is but they have a timeline of the night of the murder and what looks like a copy of the Statement of Facts and the criminal complaint.

I wouldn't trust this site at all, I haven't bothered to read through that particular article but I was closely following a local case not too long ago and I came across their "Fast facts you need to know" about that and probably about half of their "facts" were 100% untrue, not even close to the truth or anything reported by the msm and probably based of off internet rumors. I also don't see much of any worth in the #philipchism tag.

 

[LambChop]

No matter what we know (or, rather, think we know) the thread title should include the word "allegedly."

There is very little doubt he killed her and MSN is reporting that he was the one who killed her. So I do not see a problem with the title of the thread.

 

[boston_baby]

Here's a good MSM article that really sums all angles up to the best degree possible right now -- the who/what/when/where/how -- just not the why -- and some of the evidence against him, the court proceeding, and more.

http://danvers.patch.com/groups/pol...o-murder-may-undergo-mental-health-evaluation

 

[IzzyBlanche]

I found this tidbit interesting. It seems pretty clear to me this was premeditated.

"Several of Chism’s soccer teammates said he had mysteriously vanished Tuesday afternoon, missing the team practice at 4 p.m. and a team dinner at 6. Teammates last saw the youth running away from the practice field, breathlessly telling them he had something he needed to take care of."

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...bAIOtxQIe3EAabTrBGP/story.html?rss_id=Top-GNP

 

[LaborDayRN]

Philip Chism: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

I'm not sure how reliable this heavy.com website is but they have a timeline of the night of the murder and what looks like a copy of the Statement of Facts and the criminal complaint.

It seems that in the Statement of Facts, the arrest was made based on his (Chisms) statements and corroborating evidence found at the scene.

 

[FragileSugar]

14-year-old followed teacher into bathroom, slashed her throat before she was found dead in woods: report

The 14-year-old boy accused of killing a beloved Massachusetts teacher has allegedly confessed to slashing her throat with a box cutter in a school bathroom before dumping her body in a nearby patch of woods, according to a report.

Philip Chism admitted to police that he followed math teacher Colleen Ritzer into a second-floor bathroom at Danvers High School — where he punched her in the face and sliced her throat, a source told FOX 25 News.

Authorities did not reveal any motive for the senseless killing, but classmates told WHDH-TV that the teacher asked to speak to Chism after school for an unknown reason.

 

[sherbetjello]

ALL SPECULATION AND OPINON OF MY OWN READS BELOW:

I can't ever recall hearing of a case involving a child/teen and thinking to myself "have they done this before?", but this is one case where I do think this.

It's shocking to me that a new student at a school, called rather shy by schoolmates, a great athlete, spontaneously murders someone in such a brazen attack on school property under the watching eye of cameras.

Either there is a budding psychological issue here or history of violence/crime.

This is shocking to me on so many levels.

 

[FragileSugar]

ALL SPECULATION AND OPINON OF MY OWN READS BELOW:

I can't ever recall hearing of a case involving a child/teen and thinking to myself "have they done this before?", but this is one case where I do think this.

It's shocking to me that a new student at a school, called rather shy by schoolmates, a great athlete, spontaneously murders someone in such a brazen attack on school property under the watching eye of cameras.

Either there is a budding psychological issue here or history of violence/crime.

This is shocking to me on so many levels.

Good point. Maybe he has a sealed record back in TN? I mean, he's only 14.

 

[colette]

Student Rania Rhaedaoui said she was in Colleen Ritzer’s algebra class on the last period of the day, along with the suspect, Philip Chism.

“She saw him drawing during class and she just said to him, ‘I didn’t know you could draw,’” said Rhaedaoui, a 14-year-old freshman.

“I sit really close to him, so I could hear,” she said.

Rhaedaoui said she later heard Ritzer ask Chism to stay after school.

“She just said, ‘Can you stay after with me?’ He just gave a nod.”

“There was a test coming up, and she wanted to know if he had any questions on learning equations,” Rhaedaoui said.



http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...bAIOtxQIe3EAabTrBGP/story.html?rss_id=Top-GNP

 

[FragileSugar]

Student Rania Rhaedaoui said she was in Colleen Ritzer’s algebra class on the last period of the day, along with the suspect, Philip Chism.

“She saw him drawing during class and she just said to him, ‘I didn’t know you could draw,’” said Rhaedaoui, a 14-year-old freshman.

“I sit really close to him, so I could hear,” she said.

Rhaedaoui said she later heard Ritzer ask Chism to stay after school.

“She just said, ‘Can you stay after with me?’ He just gave a nod.”

“There was a test coming up, and she wanted to know if he had any questions on learning equations,” Rhaedaoui said.



http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...bAIOtxQIe3EAabTrBGP/story.html?rss_id=Top-GNP

The article also mentions:

Cambria Cloutier, another 14-year-old freshman, who was also in the class, said she walked by Ritzer’s classroom at about 3:15 p.m., more than an hour after the class had gotten out at 1:55 p.m. “She was standing at her computer, and he was just sitting there,” Cloutier said. “It just looked normal, like any other day.”

If he had been in her classroom after school (1:55pm) to "about 3:15", that's a long time for an after school conference. I posted a link to an earlier article that said in the video footage, Ritzer went into the restroom and five minutes later Chism followed her to the restroom. I wonder how long it was after they were last seen by the student at around 3:15. Did he follow her from her classroom or did he pretend to leave the school, get the boxcutter (supposedly from the art classroom) and wait for a chance to kill her?

 

[i.b.nora]

That's a good Boston Globe article.

I notice they use the terms "suspect" and "allegedly" throughout the entire article when referring to Philip Chism.

 

[Honey_West]

IMO i think this had everything to do with the accused feeling frustrated with what occurred in the classroom after school. I think that CR was mentoring him on math and he was becoming frustrated with not being able to understand, perhaps in his own mind felt she was humiliating him, and also keeping him from getting to soccer practice which was making him feel anxious/nervous, and led him to 'snap'. In no way is this any excuse to react in the way that he did, nor is it her fault. JMO

 

[oh_gal]

This article states that a classmate said the suspect was always "tired and seemed out of it"...but that he didn't seem troubled (Huh?)
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/2...illing-beloved-massachusetts/?intcmp=trending

 

[Karmady]

I think it's odd that she was in the restroom for 5 minutes before the student went in after her. Five minutes is kind of a long time to spend in a public restroom, but also how did he know she was in there? Was he waiting where he could see the door. And, if so, why did he wait so long? And did he go directly to the restroom from practice when he told someone he had to take care of something? Very intriguing imo.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Chism's uncle says he's 14 and "growing up still". He just got "upset", that's all, and "teenagers go through that".

Incredible choice of words.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/phillip-ch...adness-regret-slain-teacher/story?id=20665538

 

[tezi]

There is very little doubt he killed her and MSN is reporting that he was the one who killed her. So I do not see a problem with the title of the thread.

LambChop, I am not trying to be difficult, but what is so different about this thread? Usually, we have to put, "suspect arrested." We don't get to put "murdered by" until after the accused is found guilty in a court of law. Of course, there are exceptions, and if this is one, could you please tell us?

Thank you.

 

[JoeFromLB]

"...other students said Chism served several detentions since starting school in September, sometimes going at least twice a week and on Saturdays."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...-boy-arrested-article-1.1493769#ixzz2ifidW7A6