An Affidavit Reveals More Details Around Colleen Ritzer’s Death

Just one day after a grand jury indicted 14-year-old Phillip Chism, revealing that his alleged crimes against math teacher Colleen Ritzer extended to rape and robbery, an unsealed police affidavit, posted to Twitter by Boston Herald reporter John Zaremba, has exposed even more gruesome detail.

According to police, Chism brought a box cutter, mask, gloves, and changes of clothing to school with him, leading them to believe that he planned the murder. Another student who stayed after class with Chism and Ritzer for help said Chism grew visibly upset when Ritzer talked about Tennessee, the state from which he’d recently moved with his mother, who was going through a bad divorce.

The affidavit also provides a detailed timeline, thanks to the school’s security cameras. Footage shows Ritzer entering the second floor bathroom, closely followed by Chism in a mask. Cameras then showed Chism in a change of clothes bringing a recycling bin into the bathroom. They allege that he used it to remove Ritzer’s body to the spot behind the school where it was later discovered. Near the body was a note, one they claim Chism wrote, that said “I hate you all.”

When police discovered Chism walking along Route 1, later that night, they found Ritzer’s possessions in his bag, as well as a boxcutter. When they asked where the blood on the boxcutter came from, he responded, “the girl.” Ritzer was discovered, her body in a “sexually positioned” manner, at 3 a.m.

Chism was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder, aggravated rape, and robbery. He’s expected stand trial on all there charges in Superior Court, where he will face the murder charge as an adult.