MD - Cockeysville teen charged in murders of parents, two brothers *Guilty*

[SuziQ]

Last week a paper in Oregon featured an attorney who specializes in cases where a child has killed their parents. This is what I recall him saying. Most of the cases stem from a mental illness, either from the child or the parents. The most shocking cases are from the wealthier families that seemed to have had a perfect life. But in reality, their money and access to mental health care enabled them to hide their problems from the outside. That's why it such a shock when things go wrong and everyone says they didn't see it coming.

He also talked about the rare cases where in a truly normal family, the child suddenly snaps. He says it's because children, especially teenagers view everything, no matter how trivial, as the end of the world. You take an easy access to guns and a knee jerk reaction to being grounded, or having the car taken away, and the results are sudden and deadly.

 

[MeoW333]

Last week a paper in Oregon featured an attorney who specializes in cases where a child has killed their parents. This is what I recall him saying. Most of the cases stem from a mental illness, either from the child or the parents. The most shocking cases are from the wealthier families that seemed to have had a perfect life. But in reality, their money and access to mental health care enabled them to hide their problems from the outside. That's why it such a shock when things go wrong and everyone says they didn't see it coming.

He also talked about the rare cases where in a truly normal family, the child suddenly snaps. He says it's because children, especially teenagers view everything, no matter how trivial, as the end of the world. You take an easy access to guns and a knee jerk reaction to being grounded, or having the car taken away, and the results are sudden and deadly.

It sounds like it may be the case here. They had the money and were highly thought of in the community, that they would want to hide things that would "mar" their image.
As for calling the boy a monster; his actions were that of a monster, yet he is still a boy.

 

[deanws]

It sounds like it may be the case here. They had the money and were highly thought of in the community, that they would want to hide things that would "mar" their image.
As for calling the boy a monster; his actions were that of a monster, yet he is still a boy.

He turned 16 this week. IMO that is not a "boy".

 

[southcitymom]

He turned 16 this week. IMO that is not a "boy".

It's a boy to me - and to many. And it's young enough in the eyes of the law that the ultimate penalty cannot be sought against him.

He turned 16 on the day his entire family was buried as a result of his actions. His birth anniversary will always be their death annivesary. Astonishing.

 

[MeoW333]

At 15, a kid is old enough to call DFS and say they want out. How many kids do you know who have threatened to call when their parents spank them?

When i was young i would have never called CPS or DFS as i was too scared to. I faced with threats that if i did it would only be worse than what i was facing. I also don't have that much faith in systems that are supposed to "protect children" yet we see so many cases of how that fails. Look in the Missing section on here and you'll see how many children are missing in FL that are supposed to kept track of by the state.

 

[deanws]

It's a boy to me - and to many. And it's young enough in the eyes of the law that the ultimate penalty cannot be sought against him.

He turned 16 on the day his entire family was buried as a result of his actions. His birth anniversary will always be their death annivesary. Astonishing.

If he was in Texas he could be tried as an adult and the death penalty could be sought. I guess we will once again disagree. He was big enough to shoot the gun, he is big enough to die IMO.

 

[Littledeer]

I just spent the last hour with my husband talking about this case.

He believes in what the French did years ago: that everyone that commits a capital crime (no matter what ever the age is) is put on Devil's Island or one of the other Islands, and let them basically fend for themselves.

He also believes in one appeal and that's it.

In a very small way, he does have a point. Only on the appeal process. We allow so many appeals, that cases go on for years and years......

On my antler point............I would love to see how much we as taxpayers in federal taxes, or state taxes go towards to maintaining prisoners. (food, tv's, guards, room & board, medical, etc.)

I don't agree with him when it comes to children. So what age is it that they are no longer considered a child??

That seems to be part of the problem here............some posters think 15 is a child...........others think 15 is close enough to be an adult BASED on what he did.

SORRY FOR THE LONG POST!!!!! (taking antlers out of here)

 

[deanws]

I just spent the last hour with my husband talking about this case.

He believes in what the French did years ago: that everyone that commits a capital crime (no matter what ever the age is) is put on Devil's Island or one of the other Islands, and let them basically fend for themselves.

He also believes in one appeal and that's it.

In a very small way, he does have a point. Only on the appeal process. We allow so many appeals, that cases go on for years and years......

On my antler point............I would love to see how much we as taxpayers in federal taxes, or state taxes go towards to maintaining prisoners. (food, tv's, guards, room & board, medical, etc.)

I don't agree with him when it comes to children. So what age is it that they are no longer considered a child??

That seems to be part of the problem here............some posters think 15 is a child...........others think 15 is close enough to be an adult BASED on what he did.

SORRY FOR THE LONG POST!!!!! (taking antlers out of here)

I could push the death shot easily, and come home and sleep soundly. To wipe out your whole family??? He doesn't deserve to live, I don't care how old he is. JMO:behindbar

 

[NoKoolaidKid]

To me it's honestly not an age thing. This always happens when it's someone really young who does the killing. If Nick had been 21 there would not have been nearly as much sympathy for him or excuses. But, he's 15. But you know what? No matter how old he is, they are all still dead. What about his 11 year old brother? What about his 13 year old brother? They didn't even get to make it to the age of 15. They didn't even get to anticipate getting their driver's license and a new car. Nick was selfish and only thinking of himself. I do not believe that he didn't realize what he was doing nor that he didn't realize it was wrong. A 15 year old knows that killing your whole family (or anyone for that matter) is wrong. So I'm not sure why the age should make it any less punishable.
Dead is dead. He knew it was wrong. He planned it. It didn't even happen in a fit of anger. It was a plan he executed so coldly and then was able to put on a fake act with his friends. That is downright evil, no matter what age he was. I feel sorry for the two little boys who never got to drive, graduate, go to college, get a job, have a girlfriend and date, get married, have children, have grandchildren, and grow old. He took that all away from them. And I feel sorry for the parents who never got to see their children graduate, go to college and graduate again, attend their son's weddings, and hold their grandchildren. Nick took that all away from them too. What does 15 have to do with it?

 

[deanws]

To me it's honestly not an age thing. This always happens when it's someone really young who does the killing. If Nick had been 21 there would not have been nearly as much sympathy for him or excuses. But, he's 15. But you know what? No matter how old he is, they are all still dead. What about his 11 year old brother? What about his 13 year old brother? They didn't even get to make it to the age of 15. They didn't even get to anticipate getting their driver's license and a new car. Nick was selfish and only thinking of himself. I do not believe that he didn't realize what he was doing nor that he didn't realize it was wrong. A 15 year old knows that killing your whole family (or anyone for that matter) is wrong. So I'm not sure why the age should make it any less punishable.
Dead is dead. He knew it was wrong. He planned it. It didn't even happen in a fit of anger. It was a plan he executed so coldly and then was able to put on a fake act with his friends. That is downright evil, no matter what age he was. I feel sorry for the two little boys who never got to drive, graduate, go to college, get a job, have a girlfriend and date, get married, have children, have grandchildren, and grow old. He took that all away from them. And I feel sorry for the parents who never got to see their children graduate, go to college and graduate again, attend their son's weddings, and hold their grandchildren. Nick took that all away from them too. What does 15 have to do with it?

I am right there with you kool!

:clap:

 

[MCDRAW]

He turned 16 this week. IMO that is not a "boy".

I read somewhere that your brain does not mature until you are 25 years old. I have a 17 year old and believe me, he is still a boy. In my opinion, Nick is a boy, allegedly a killer, but still a boy.

 

[southcitymom]

I read somewhere that your brain does not mature until you are 25 years old. I have a 17 year old and believe me, he is still a boy. In my opinion, Nick is a boy, allegedly a killer, but still a boy.

Completely true.

 

[j2mirish]

To me it's honestly not an age thing. This always happens when it's someone really young who does the killing. If Nick had been 21 there would not have been nearly as much sympathy for him or excuses. But, he's 15. But you know what? No matter how old he is, they are all still dead. What about his 11 year old brother? What about his 13 year old brother? They didn't even get to make it to the age of 15. They didn't even get to anticipate getting their driver's license and a new car. Nick was selfish and only thinking of himself. I do not believe that he didn't realize what he was doing nor that he didn't realize it was wrong. A 15 year old knows that killing your whole family (or anyone for that matter) is wrong. So I'm not sure why the age should make it any less punishable.
Dead is dead. He knew it was wrong. He planned it. It didn't even happen in a fit of anger. It was a plan he executed so coldly and then was able to put on a fake act with his friends. That is downright evil, no matter what age he was. I feel sorry for the two little boys who never got to drive, graduate, go to college, get a job, have a girlfriend and date, get married, have children, have grandchildren, and grow old. He took that all away from them. And I feel sorry for the parents who never got to see their children graduate, go to college and graduate again, attend their son's weddings, and hold their grandchildren. Nick took that all away from them too. What does 15 have to do with it?

I dont know- I cant say it has anything to do with any of it- he killed the whole fricking family and 2 younger brothers- then went on to hang out with his friends-- I personally have absolutely none- nada zip sympathy for him-
I dont know if I envy SCM for her compassion or not- I cant find it in my own heart- but I know hers is sincere......I also appreciate Jeana having a step backwords, when you ask about the scenario being the same if he was "goth" or a similar type personality-interesting that that would make a difference

 

[j2mirish]

I read somewhere that your brain does not mature until you are 25 years old. I have a 17 year old and believe me, he is still a boy. In my opinion, Nick is a boy, allegedly a killer, but still a boy.

ok- a boy- based on age--- yet "man enough" to kill his whole family

 

[deanws]

ok- a boy- based on age--- yet "man enough" to kill his whole family

Yep...when he CHOSE to shoot his whole family, he put his "big boy" britches on as far as I can see.

 

[NoKoolaidKid]

I read somewhere that your brain does not mature until you are 25 years old. I have a 17 year old and believe me, he is still a boy. In my opinion, Nick is a boy, allegedly a killer, but still a boy.

I know many 50 year olds who don't have a mature brain.
But, I cannot believe that a 15 year old's brain isn't mature enough to know that going home in the middle of the night to shoot his family in the head and then return back to his video games with his friends is SO WRONG! So, while he did still have some maturing to do, I strongly believe he knew it was wrong, even with a 15 year old brain. I'm getting tired of that excuse too. If we can't say a 15 year old brain is mature enough to know it's wrong to kill your family, then everyone should be scared to go to sleep at night.

 

[southcitymom]

......I also appreciate Jeana having a step backwords, when you ask about the scenario being the same if he was "goth" or a similar type personality-interesting that that would make a difference

I like that step-back too, j2m. The reality is that when something this unexplainable happens and none of the obvious factors (poverty, ignorance, drugs, obvious abuse, teenage "oddness", blatant mental illness...) can be seen right away, we scramble all over ourselves to find a reason. Because we want to be able to put it in a box and say "See - this is what happened and this is why." That makes us feel safer, I think.

But I think even the most normal looking people can harbor terrible damages that they go to great length to hide. Ted Bundy taught us something about that.

Based on the information we have, it seems this boy truly thought he could get away with murdering his entire family in their sleep and making it look like a botched burglary. The crime does not appear to be passionate, but calculated. I think we all know that - regardless of his age - that's not a normal way to feel and it's even less normal to be able to carry it out.

Regardless of the fact that he was young, preppy, privileged and seemed to fit in, something inside was terribly wrong, but he was probably bright enough to be able to hide it. He knew what normal was and he knew he wasn't would be my guess. This may have happened out of the blue for everyone else, but it didn't happen out of the blue for him.

And honestly - I don't know what the heck you do if you're a teenage boy capable of planning and committing and execution of your entire family. Do you share that with your pastor, golf coach or Dad? Probably not - you probably hide whatever you need to hide.

 

[j2mirish]

I like that step-back too, j2m. The reality is that when something this unexplainable happens and none of the obvious factors (poverty, ignorance, drugs, obvious abuse, teenage "oddness", blatant mental illness...) can be seen right away, we scramble all over ourselves to find a reason. Because we want to be able to put it in a box and say "See - this is what happened and this is why." That makes us feel safer, I think.

But I think even the most normal looking people can harbor terrible damages that they go to great length to hide. Ted Bundy taught us something about that, I think.
---------------------------agree 100 % with top 2 paragraphs
Based on the information we have, it seems this boy truly thought he could get away with murdering his entire family in their sleep and making it look like a botched burglary. The crime does not appear to be passionate, but calculated. I think we all know that - regardless of his age - that's not a normal way to feel and it's even less normal to be able to carry it out.
--------------------agree-
Regardless of the fact that he was young, preppy, privileged and seemed to fit in, something inside was terribly wrong, but he was probably bright enough to be able to hide it. He knew what normal was and he knew he wasn't would be my guess. This may have happened out of the blue for everyone else, but it didn't happen out of the blue for him.
-----------what makes you say he knew he wasnt normal?
And honestly - I don't know what the heck you do if you're a teenage boy capable of planning and committing and execution of your entire family. Do you share that with your pastor, golf coach or Dad? Probably not - you probably hide whatever you need to hide.
---------------doesnt matter if you are a teenage boy or an adult in the scenario of a planned murder- that seems to be the hangup here for most- if this had been a 26 year old neighbor, there would not be near the emotion- the fact of the matter is we cannot comprehend how a 15 year old son/brother could do this to his family, so the excuses are now being searched-

 

[southcitymom]

J2M,

I would hazzard to guess that he knew he wasn't normal because of the way he was raised and the things he seemed to be involved in. His church and boyscouts (almost an Eagle Scout - hello, BTK ) are two organizations which teach respect and care for life - both the inner life and the outer life. Also, he didn't hang out with gangbangers - killing and death didn't seem to be a part of his life. He lived in an upper class neighborhood where there were no daily street shootings. Even the sport he played - golf - is completely non-violent as boy sports go.

Based on those things, I think he must have known that whatever was going on inside him was not normal when held up to what he saw around him in church, scouts, school, home.

So far - there seems to be no history of abuse in the home - another thing we might look to for "explanation".

For me all the emotion is not his age, but rather that he seemed to have everything and he seemed to be well-adjusted and he killed his family in cold blood. I would have similar feelings if he were 26. Others may not - but I would.

I wish I knew more.

 

[deanws]

J2M,

I would hazzard to guess that he knew he wasn't normal because of the way he was raised and the things he seemed to be involved in. His church and boyscouts (almost an Eagle Scout - hello, BTK ) are two organizations which teach respect and care for life - both the inner life and the outer life. Also, he didn't hang out with gangbangers - killing and death didn't seem to be a part of his life. He lived in an upper class neighborhood where there were no daily street shootings. Even the sport he played - golf - is completely non-violent as boy sports go.

Based on those things, I think he must have known that whatever was going on inside him was not normal when held up to what he saw around him in church, scouts, school, home.

So far - there seems to be no history of abuse in the home - another thing we might look to for "explanation".

For me all the emotion is not his age, but rather that he seemed to have everything and he seemed to be well-adjusted and he killed his family in cold blood. I would have similar feelings if he were 26. Others may not - but I would.

I wish I knew more.

What does BTK mean?