Before 14-year-old
Philip Chism allegedly killed his algebra teacher, the pair
had at least one more encounter as student and
teacher, a witness said.
Chism had been doodling and listening to music during
Colleen Ritzer's algebra I class during the school's final
period, classmate Cambria Cloutier told CNN. Creating
such drawings was unusual for Chism, and when the
final bell sounded at 1:55 p.m. Tuesday, Ritzer asked
him to stay after class.
Cloutier sat two desks over from Chism, who rarely
participated in class discussion but was "a really good
student," she said.
While shuttling between two after-school meetings,
Cloutier said, she looked into the same classroom and
saw Ritzer standing by her computer and Chism sitting
in a chair about 5 to 10 feet away. The teacher smiled
at her, Cloutier recalled.
At some point that afternoon, Ritzer went
to a student girls' bathroom on Danvers
High's second floor, as someone was in
the locked faculty bathroom, a source
close to the investigation said.
Chism allegedly followed her in.
The school reopened its doors Friday, as
the first answers began to surface.
How was Ritzer killed? With a box cutter
the suspect, Chism, had brought into
school, a source close to the investigation
says.
What happened to her body afterward? It
was stashed in a recycling bin, rolled
outside, then dumped about 20 feet into
woods behind the northeastern
Massachusetts high school's athletic fields,
adds another source. It was left there --
not buried, not even covered.
And where did the alleged killer go
afterward? After changing his clothes, he
went to a Wendy's fast-food restaurant
and a movie, sources say, before police in
a neighboring town saw him walking on a
busy road under the pitch-dark sky early
Wednesday.
Yet the question of why this happened --
why a popular young educator who always
wore a smile and went the extra mile was killed
allegedly by a teenager who friends, family and co-
workers described as reserved and well-behaved --
continues to loom large.
Caring, compassionate teacher was 'brilliant ray of light'
Chism, who had moved to the Boston suburb of
Danvers before the start of the school year, remained
jailed without bond Thursday. A grand jury will play a
big part in deciding his next step: If they indict him for
first- or second-degree murder, he -- like any juvenile
age 14 or older -- would be tried as an adult, based on
Massachusetts law.
Meanwhile, the tight-knit North Shore community is
still trying to make sense of what he allegedly did and of
life without a teacher who so many appreciated,
learned from and loved.
"It's just surreal how quickly someone can go, and how
much we take for granted every day," said Danvers
High student Chris Weimert. Ritzer was "the nicest
teacher you could ever have. I can't believe it."
Two missing persons' reports come together
Students and colleagues described the 24-year-old
Ritzer as someone who gave everything for her students
-- be it a pat on the back, a sensible explanation to a
tricky concept, or the time, effort and heart to work
through problems, math or otherwise, with them.
One of those students was Chism, a freshman.
Sometime after Ritzer held him back after class, she
was killed in the bathroom.
There, Ritzer was punched a few times before being
killed with a box cutter around 3:30 p.m., said a
source.
Her body went into a recycling bin, then
outside the school where it was tossed.
Authorities eventually found a bin that
apparently had been thrown off an
embankment about 100 feet away from
Ritzer's body, a source said.
Before police found her -- before they
even knew she was missing -- they'd
started looking for Chism.
This was in the early evening, with
Danvers Police tweeting to residents that
he hadn't returned home and was last
seen around the Hollywood Hits movie
theater in the town about 20 miles
northeast of Boston.
While they were looking for him, police
got a call around 11:20 p.m. Tuesday
about another missing person: Ritzer. She
wasn't home either, nor had she
answered her phones.
The stories started coming together about
an hour later, when police officers in
nearby Topsfield found Chism walking
along Route 1.
Whatever he told detectives in his
subsequent interviews, whatever they saw
in surveillance footage from the school,
led to Chism's arrest for murder. It also
led them to Ritzer's body in the woods.
Read the complaint
A quiet and normal student
Chism is a quiet young man, those who know him said.
He excelled at soccer and made a harmless impression.
"He ... seemed quiet and reserved, but he just seemed
normal," said Ariana Edwards, who was in Chism's
English class.
Chism didn't drink or do drugs, and he came from a
good family, one of his closest friends said. He
described Chism as a good athlete who was shy at first
but eventually warmed up to people, adding that he
hadn't been acting strangely lately.
Friends got their first hint that something was awry
when Chism didn't show up for soccer practice
Tuesday. The team set out to look for him after seeing
texts that he was missing.
He was a newcomer to Danvers, a town of about
26,000 people. His family had bounced around, and he
had lived in different cities in Tennessee and Florida
since he was in fourth grade, authorities in those states
said.
Friends, relatives bewildered by arrest of 'storybook kid'
in teacher slaying
A teacher who went the extra mile
Meanwhile, many were at a loss in Danvers to explain
the death of Ritzer -- a woman who inspired many,
whether it be in the classroom or online, with her heart,
intellect and positive spirit.
"She was talking on Saturday about this year was a
good year. She was teaching freshmen for the first
time. 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."
Sympathy spread through the region, making its way
into the baseball World Series. Bleachers full of fans
who had assembled to watch the Boston Red Sox take
on the St. Louis Cardinals observed a moment of silence
in Ritzer's honor before Game 1 began Wednesday
night at Boston's Fenway Park.
Ritzer, a 2011 graduate of Assumption College who was
working toward a master's degree at Salem State
University, 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."
Salem State issued a statement lamenting Ritzer's death.
"She believed children have much to offer and often do
not realize how special they are as individuals," the
university said. "In her application to Salem State she
said she was dedicated to 'helping students in times of
need.' "
Ritzer was known to take to Twitter to dole out
homework assignments and wisdom to her students.
"No matter what happens in life, be good to people,"
she wrote in August. "Being good to people is a
wonderful legacy to leave behind."
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