Police affidavit offers chilling details of teacher's slaying
A ninth grade student told
investigators that she was in class with Chism and Ritzer after school on the
day of the crime, the affidavit said. She said the teacher and Chism were
talking about China but, at some point, Ritzer mentioned the student's home
state of Tennessee.
Chism became "visibly upset," the
student said. When Ritzer noticed that Chism was upset, she changed the subject,
said the unidentified student, who described Chism as "talking to himself."
The affidavit, in chilling
detail, offers the first hint of a possible motive in last month's gruesome
killing of the popular high school teacher. Ritzer, 24, was allegedly raped with
an object and had her throat slashed. A handwritten note found next to her body
said, "I hate you all."
Teen charged with murder, rape
of teacher
A Massachusetts grand jury on
Thursday indicted Chism, 14, on charges of murder, aggravated rape and armed
robbery in connection with Ritzer's slaying on October 22, according to the
Essex district attorney. Citing Massachusetts law, prosecutors said they would
ask that Chism be tried in an adult court.
"The indictments ... detail
horrific and unspeakable acts," District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in a
statement.
Denise Regan, Chism's public
defender, declined to comment.
The affidavit includes testimony
from eyewitnesses as well as a school video surveillance timeline showing Chism
and Ritzer in the same area of the school during the teacher's final
moments.
In the video, Ritzer appears to
enter a second-floor girls restroom -- apparently a faculty restroom was
occupied -- and Chism, wearing gloves and red sweatshirt with the hood pulled
over his head, appears to enter the restroom about a minute later, according to
the affidavit.
Shortly after, a female student
enters the bathroom and quickly walks out, according to court papers. She told
investigators she saw the back of a person who appeared to be changing clothes.
The person's rear was exposed, with clothes piled on the floor.
The video shows Chism leaving
the restroom, returning later with a recycling barrel, and again leaving the
restroom pulling the barrel -- this time with a black mask on his forehead, the
court papers say. He pulls the barrel outside the building and toward the
student parking lot. Investigators said there are what appear to be blood stains
near the bathroom as well as on Chism's pants in the video.
After Chism was reported missing
by his mother on the evening of October 22, police had his cellular phone
company "ping" the location of his phone. The phone was found to be in the
vicinity of the Hollywood Hits Theater, where investigators learned the teen had
purchased a movie ticket and then left.
The affidavit said that when
Chism was spotted by a police officer the next day, he was carrying a knife. A
search of his backpack turned up a bloodstained box cutter. Asked where the
blood came from, Chism allegedly responded: "The girl." He was also carrying
credit cards and driver's licenses belonging to Ritzer, as well as a pair of
woman's underwear.
Police discovered Ritzer's body
in a wooded area near the school, covered with leaves and debris in an apparent
attempt to conceal it, the court papers said. Her throat was slit.
The green recycling bin seen in
the surveillance video was found 20 yards from the body. Clothing and other
belongings were scattered near the body, along with blood soaked gloves Chism
appeared to be wearing in the video. The handwritten "I hate you all" note was
folded near her body, according to the documents.
Investigators used the affidavit
to secure a warrant to search Chism's home.
Chism's mother, Diana, told
investigators that she recently moved to Massachusetts from Tennessee amid a
"stressful divorce" from the teen's father.
Documents filed in a Tennessee
court 12 years ago shed light on a troubled relationship. The court papers
showed that Chism's father agreed during a separation from his mother to have
restricted time with his son, who was then 2, because of "prior physical and
emotional abuse as well as alcohol abuse."
Chism's uncle, Terrence Chism
Blaine, told CNN in the days after the crime that the boy's parents are now
separated and that the father -- a former military man -- now lives in
Florida.
The suspect's mother, Diana
Chism, last month released a statement through her son's attorney saying her
"heart is broken for the Ritzer family and the loss of their daughter and sister
Colleen Ritzer."
The armed robbery indictment
alleges that Chism, armed with a box cutter, robbed Ritzer of credit cards, an
iPhone and her underwear.
On the aggravated rape and armed
robbery indictments, Chism was charged as a youthful offender, but prosecutors
said they will move to join those charges with the murder case in Superior
Court.
"This is the first step in a
long process to secure justice for Ms. Ritzer and her family," Blodgett
said.
Ritzer was known to her friends
and family as a woman who inspired many -- whether in the classroom or online --
with her heart, intellect and positive spirit.
"She was happy," said Jen
Berger, Ritzer's best friend. "I don't even know what the world is like without
her. It's a scary thought."
A 2011 graduate of Assumption
College who was working toward a master's degree at Salem State University,
Ritzer seemed to always wear a wide smile and was approachable to students and
colleagues alike, said Charlotte Dzerkacz, who became good friends with Ritzer
in 2011 when they taught at the same middle school.
"She was energetic, she was
compassionate," Dzerkacz said. "You couldn't ask for anything more from a
teacher or a friend."
The Ritzer family released a
statement saying: "We are devastated and heartbroken by the details of the
horrific circumstances surrounding the death of our beautiful daughter and
sister, Colleen."
A week after the slaying, about
400 Danvers High School students were among the estimated 1,000 people who
gathered to pay final respects at the church where the family of popular math
teacher worshiped.
