The Massachusetts teen accused of raping and murdering his teacher will spend 20 days in Worcester Hospital, where a team of doctors will evaluate his mental health.
Philip Chism, 16, was initially deemed fit for trial but refused to enter court or cooperate with a psychiatrist during jury selection Wednesday. Chism told the clinician he didn't trust his defense team and wished someone would bring a gun to court and shoot him.
Chism has been charged with raping and murdering his math teacher Colleen Ritzer, 24, in 2013, when he was just 14. Defense attorneys have said they plan to use a mental health defense but haven't revealed specifics.
Jury selection has been halted, as Chism remain at the hospital for at least 20 days.
One day in the fall of 2013, Ritzer had asked her 9th-grade algebra students at Danvers High School to stay after school. Hours later, the body of the popular, 24-year-old teacher was found in nearby woods, partly covered by leaves. She had been raped and her throat had been slit with a box cutter. Near her body was a note reading, "I hate you all."
Her killing shocked students and teachers who knew Ritzer as a bubbly, enthusiastic teacher and Chism as a quiet boy and standout soccer player who had recently moved to Massachusetts from Tennessee.
Chism's mother told police her son had been under stress following her divorce from his father and their move from Clarksville, Tennessee, to Danvers, a town of 26,000 about 25 miles north of Boston.
A student who was in Ritzer's class with Chism said he was drawing in a notebook instead of taking notes on Oct. 22, 2013.
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"She came over and said, 'I didn't know you draw,' and he said, 'yes,' then later on, she said, 'Can you stay after with me?'" Rania Rhaddaoui said two days after Ritzer's body was found.
Another student who was in the classroom after school that day said she heard Ritzer and Chism talking. The student, whose name was blocked out in court documents, told police that when Ritzer mentioned Tennessee, Chism appeared "visibly upset." When Ritzer noticed his reaction, she changed the subject, but the student said Chism then began talking to himself.
Chism's lawyers have retained, Dr. Richard Dudley Jr., a well-known forensic psychiatrist, to testify as an expert. Dudley has testified for a collection of high-profile defendants, including Joshua Komisarjevsky, one of two men convicted in the 2007 murders of a Connecticut woman and her two daughters; Brian Nichols, the Georgia man who killed a judge and three other people after escaping during his 2005 rape trial; and Colin Ferguson, the Long Island railroad shooter who killed six people and wounded 19 others in 1993.
Insanity defenses rarely succeed in Massachusetts, but some legal observers say Chism's youth might make some jurors more willing to consider a mental health defense.
"I would really think that youth is going to be a huge factor. Part of the argument would be that Chism couldn't control whatever disease or defect he had," said Daniel Medwed, a law professor at Northeastern University.
"I assume the defense will tie it into research on adolescent brain development, in particular, adolescents have a difficult time calculating the future and having a sense of the ramifications on their future lives."
Prosecutors are expected to show the jury school surveillance video in which they say Chism is seen following Ritzer into a school bathroom, wearing gloves and a hood, then walking out of the bathroom alone 12 minutes later.
The video also shows Chism pulling a recycling barrel through the school and outside, according to search warrant documents filed in court. The barrel was found near Ritzer's body. Authorities said she was sexually assaulted twice, once with a stick.
Chism was found hours later, walking along Route 1 in neighboring Topsfield. Police there found a box cutter with blood on it inside Chism's backpack. During a pretrial hearing, an officer testified that when Chism was asked whose blood it was, he replied, "It's the girl's."
Chism also had Ritzer's identification, credit cards and a pair of women's underwear in his backpack.
Prosecutors are expected to present that evidence to the jury, but they won't be allowed to tell the jury about a confession he allegedly gave to Danvers police. Judge David Lowy ruled that Chism did not fully understand his constitutional rights before he spoke to them.
In the videotaped interview, Chism told police Ritzer provoked the attack with a "trigger" word, which he would not disclose.
"After she insulted me, that's when I became the teacher," Chism said, according to a description Lowy gave in his written ruling.
