Lincoln-Sudbury suspect bragged of knives

Accused killer boasted of vast knife collection:

John Odgren, the suspect in the Lincoln-Sudbury High School stabbing, had previously bragged about his rather extensive knife collection…

John Odgren is a private kid who spent hours exploring the vast woods around his secluded Princeton home, neighbors said, sometimes carrying a machete.

One neighbor said the quiet teen appeared menacing as he stalked along the winding country road with a machete in hand whacking at brush. “He just acted odd,” said the neighbor. “He’d sit in the woods all day. He spent all last summer walking in the woods.”

But another said Odgren seemed like a typical country boy who enjoyed the outdoors: “He didn’t seem like a punk. He didn’t seem like he was too big for his britches. He seemed like a nice kid.”

A student at Sudbury named Julia, who is making a crime film, said Odgren was fascinated by crime. “He said if we needed any props for the movie he had knives,” she said.

For the sake of argument let’s just say that his Asperger’s is what caused him to kill James Alenson. Then if his parents knew he had a predisposition to fly off the handle why did they allow him to have a knife collection? Why would you let any 16-year-old have a knife collection, including a machete, anyway?

The article said he was picked on too. I don’t care. I bet James Alenson was picked on too. He was a quiet kid who played the clarinet. You’re going to tell me that no one picked on him?

There’s only one victim here and his name is James Alenson.

Comments

17 responses to “Lincoln-Sudbury suspect bragged of knives”

  1. Endersdragon Avatar
    Endersdragon

    Yes I agree James Alenson is the only victim here but I for one would like all the facts before making judgement on the John. Sadly we won’t get most of them for serveral weeks if not longer.

    First and foremost I want to know what drugs he was on and what possible side-effects these drugs could have on him. I think that even you would agree that drugs like Prozac have lead to violent incidents when given to kids.

    Next I want to know about past history which will probably never come out, and will take a hell of a long time if it does. This includes why was he allowed to have such a large knife collection. So far nothing appears to lead me to believe he was at all violent prior to yesterday.

    Last I want to know motive. Why this kid of all kids, if he was trying to get away with a random murder he could have done it 100000 times easier to someone that had bullied him. Why would he pick this seemingly innocent kid to kill. Was it planned out?, did he snap?, was this kid a suprising bully (it is still a possibility)? If this kid was such an expert of criminology and committed premeditated murder, why would he choose a bad target, confess right away, do it in a way that would leave tons of evidence behind and would be noticed right away.

    This whole case doesn’t make sense so far and I am going to wait until it does before jumping to my sorts of conclusions, and you probably should do the same.

  2. Endersdragon Avatar
    Endersdragon

    I agree Starviego but hopefully if this boy was on drug that helped lead to this it is found if not for punishing big pharmas sake then for this boys.

  3. starviego Avatar

    “Shapiro said Odgren has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, and is a special education student. “He’s on a number of medications and he’s under the care of many physicians,” said Shapiro.”

    If history is any guide, the perp’s psychiatric and medical history will slip quietly beneath the radar. You can bet big pharma is already on scene spreading the cash around.

  4. starviego Avatar

    Some other interesting quotes:

    http://runfastermaster.blogspot.com/
    –“Odgren… appeared to be visibly upset.”

    [Indicates the act was not premeditated]

    –“Odgren also stated that there was a witness to the incident which took place in the bathroom. Odgren stated that a student with blonde hair and facial hair growth saw what happened.”

    [Mystery witness or….. second slasher? Hmmmm…..]

    –“I transported Odgren to the Sudbury Police Department. Robert Barnes, a psychologist also rode (as an interested adult) in the rear of my cruiser during transport.”

    [Wow! That kid needs help, and he’s already getting it!]

    http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/01/20/youth_didnt_fit_in_peers_say/
    “Earlier this school year, 16-year-old John Odgren participated in a lab experiment for his forensic sciences class in which students used lead pipes and toy knives to splatter a red corn-syrup facsimile of blood against pieces of paper.”

    [A new version of ‘death ed’?]

  5. starviego Avatar

    http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070120/NEWS/701200360/1116

    “Mrs. Odgren(his mother) has worked for the Wachusett school district. In a 2003 interview with the Telegram & Gazette about school nursing, she said her duties included counseling students who suffer from anxiety, depression, behavioral disorders and family conflicts.”

    Mom sounds exactly like the type of person whose duties it is to get these kids on psych drugs. I have heard the schools get financial incentives to do this. So I wonder if what we have here is a case of the chickens coming home to roost.

  6. starviego Avatar

    Here is his myspace page:

    http://www.myspace.com/whatnottodowithanicepick

    Seems like a normal guy, but there are excerps like this:

    “I’m glad to fianlly turn sixteen. I can finally legally drive and buy hunting knives in Massachusetts. Of course, in both categories I’m rather hesitant, as I’m nervous that I might begin to channel Tommy Versetti while I’m in the process of doing either thing.”

  7. Endersdragon Avatar
    Endersdragon

    I think he was joking there, weird that it came true. His post Tuesday certianly didn’t seem like it was from someone who was planning to kill… what happened since then.

  8. starviego Avatar

    Ogdren also posted on this site:

    http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/User%3AHomsarroks

    “Hey guys. I just want to tell you all that I’m leaving the wiki. In the time that I’ve been here, I’ve enjoyed friendship, laughter, and many good times, and I want to thank everybody who made this place so great for me. It’s been fun, but I just don’t have the time anymore. I’ve got studies, friends, homework, private interests, and a novel to write.
    And did I mention that I’m in love?
    I know that some of you will probably be sad that I’m leaving, but just remember the fun that we had and the laughs that we shared.
    I will be back, my friends.
    Until then, I leave you with a message of goodwill, and my real name.
    Goodbye, Homestar Runner Wiki. I wish all of you the best.
    Jack,
    Adieu
    1/17/07”

    —————

    “….did I mention that I’m in love?”

    So who is the lucky lady? Wouldn’t surpirse me at all if a woman was behind all this–a femme fatale with a bad attitude, a razor, and a handful of Ritalin…

  9. Endersdragon Avatar
    Endersdragon

    How did you find out that was him, it certainly doesn’t seem right. Though he said goodbye just days before it happened… so weird. Didn’t he figure that would be used against him if he had been planning it from that point.

  10. starviego Avatar
    starviego

    http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php?title=User:Homsarroks&oldid=397247

    He linked to his myspace account from the above link(at the bottom)

    (Of interest, under Aliases)
    “MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Sorry… I let my evil twin type for a minute there. He promised to be good, but I just can’t trust him…”

    http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/User_talk%3AHomsarroks

    “I’m writing a novel. Yes, you read that correctly. As of October 13th, I have been working on a novel, called Black October. It’s about a plague that brings a zombie horde down on Earth. A well explored area if there ever was one, but I’m hoping to put a new slant on things with my book. …. ”

    uh oh, zombies again…

  11. Trench Avatar

    According to his MySpace he’s 6’2″. 16 year-olds that tall generally don’t get bullied. I’m more likely to believe this was about a girl.

  12. Endersdragon Avatar
    Endersdragon

    Trench… ummm I am 6’2” and aspie, I was bullied relentlessly (one of the worst was by someone who was 5’4” or so, size doesn’t always matter when you are weaker) and it has already been firmly established that he was bullied, in one of the articles you quoted no less. Stop making stupid comments like that.

  13. Endersdragon Avatar
    Endersdragon

    Whoops accidently put the response in the wrong part, I am sure you can look up a bit though.

  14. Endersdragon Avatar
    Endersdragon

    I just noticed he said he was in love… he didn’t say he was in love with a girl… could it be that he was in love with James, funny way of showing it I know but… nothing here makes sense so far.

  15. starviego Avatar

    Some more quotes of interest:

    http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/

    –(before the attack)”He looked up at us and said, ‘How many people have you killed in the virtual world?”’ (student Ben)Wasserman said yesterday. Wasserman said he laughed off the comment, assuming it was a reference to a video game. But then Odgren said, ”I once tried to kill a person for real,” Wasserman said.

    –….his attorney… said the teenager had been diagnosed with…. a hyperactivity disorder.

    [Translation: he was on Ritalin]

    –(student Chris)McDermott said Odgren talked at length about a book in which the character dies at the end. He said Odgren seemed fascinated by a part of the book that describes the dripping sound of blood. He said Odgren was an avid reader and loved Stephen King novels…

    [Stephen King. Again.]

    –Jared Pandolfi, senior, saw Odgren searching the Internet on a school computer for information about a ”homemade bomb,” Pandolfi said yesterday. Pandolfi said he thought at the time that Odgren might have been conducting research [b]for a school project[/b].

    [Wouldn’t surprise me at all. Keep in mind all the violent videos made by the Columbine killers were school assignments.]

  16. starviego Avatar

    http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/01/an_emotional_fi.html

    He (principal John M. Ritchie) described the mood as “somber … right now, we are into grieving.”

    [No problem tomorrow you will be “into” forgetting all about it.]

    Ritchie said that last Wednesday — two days before the murder — the school and local police conducted a full-scale, lock-down drill.

    [Though I’m sure it’s all–once again–coincidental]

    No previous connection between the two students before Friday morning has been established, he said.

    [Indicates that this attack was impromptu and hence not premeditated.]

    The ‘parenting chat’ sidebar at the link has this exchange:

    “trenchcoat: shouldn’t a child who wears a trenchcoat at school be a tipoff that something’s amiss?

    Barbara_Meltz: trenchcoat — Ya think!? It seems like a no-brainer, and for all we know, people were aware. …

    [Though it would be a mistake to assume such common sense questions wil be addressed in the official investigation.]

  17. Endersdragon Avatar
    Endersdragon

    For an aspie a bomb would be a quite “normal” thing to want to know to know how to make. Especcially one that seems to presevate on stuff that is quite… out there.

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