SALEM, Massachusetts — Sixteen-year-old Philip Chism is charged with first-degree murder and rape in the October 2013 death of 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer, his math teacher at Danvers High School. Chism was 14 at the time.
The teacher was found in the woods with her throat cut, violated, and beside a note that read, “I hate you all.”
His lawyers argue that the charge of raping and killing his high school math teacher should be dismissed. Lawyers say police coerced him into waiving his rights and making detailed statements about the murder.
Chism followed Ritzer into the girl’s bathroom after school, raped her and “repeatedly asphyxiated her before or while assaulting her with a box cutter.”
They said Chism put Ritzer’s mutilated body in a recycling bin and dumped it in the woods. They said he mutilated the body in a recycling bin before he dumped the body.
It is alleged he used her credit card to buy fast food and watch a movie. He also plead not guilty to other charges that occurred while in custody such as assault on a Department of Youth Services worker.
Surveillance video shows Chism following Ritzer down the hall and into the bathroom after he put on gloves.
More video shown to jurors shows Chism leaving the crime scene with blood on his hand.
