Colleen Ritzer - A 15-year-old has been arrested and charged with raping and killing his 24-year-old high school math teacher after police found a bloody box cutter and women's underwear in his backpack.
Topsfield Officers Neal Hovey and Josepth DeBernardo found Philip Chism alone on a deserted road carrying a backpack containing the Colleen Ritzer's credit cards and ID.
On Friday, the officers testified that when the teen was asked where he was coming from he said "Tennessee" and when asked where he was going he replied "Nowhere."
Philip Chism, who is a teenager, is facing charges as an adult for the murder and aggravated rape of popular Danvers High School math teacher Colleen Ritzer in October 2013.
Authorities found Chism after responding to a call about a black male walking on a poorly lit road after dark. When they found him, Hovey and DeBernardo said they drove him back to the station after confirming that Danvers had reported him missing a night before.
While at the police station, officials found Chism's backpack contained a woman's underwear and his cloths were smeared in blood. When asked whose blood it was Chism replied "The girl."
Reports indicate that at this point Chism was read his rights, which he testified to comprehend and as such continued to answer questions officials asked.
DeBernardo testified that he asked where the girl was. "Buried in the woods," Chism replied.
Authorities confiscated Chism's cloths and other items which appeared to have blood on them. These included his sweatshirt, sneakers and ski mask.
According to investigators, a Danvers surveillance video dated Oct.22, 2013, shows Colleen Ritzer entering a bathroom and shortly after Chism followed her in wearing gloves and a hood.
A while later Chism came out of the school's bathroom alone. The video also shows the teenager dragging a recycling barrel away from the school's premises.
Colleen Ritzier's body was later found naked from the waist down with a note that read "I hate you all" near it. Investigators say she was sexually assaulted with a stick and her throat was slit.
Authorities say after brutally killing and raping his teacher, Chism went to the mall to watch a movie and bought fast food with Colleen Ritzer's credit card.
"Anybody is capable of snapping under stressful situations," Diana Chism, Philip's mother said in an initial police interview played in court. "As a mom, you keep thinking, 'who would he hurt?'...Please don't tell me some one is dead...I'm going to pass out. Is it a freshman teacher?"
She also asked if Philip had hurt his Spanish teacher, "He doesn't like his Spanish teacher."
Diana Chism said her son was a good kid although he was dealing with the stress of his parents splitting.
"My son could have snapped," she said. "There is a history or mental illness on his father's side of the family."
Diana Chism's recorded interview with investigators and the testimony of Topsfield police officers were brought forward in an Essex Superior Court pretrial hearing.
Philip Chism has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His lawyers are attempting to have his previous confession repressed, citing that detectives pressured him to wave his rights and make confessions of brutally murdering Colleen Ritzer the night he was detained.
However, persecutors argue that Philip and his mother refused to invoke their rights to an attorney. Diana Chism reportedly said she did not need a lawyer because she had nothing to hide and afterwards left Philip to decide if he would answer the questions or not.
The hearing is scheduled to continue on Jan. 16.
Philip Chism has also pleaded not guilty to other charges of attempted murder resulting from him assaulting a Department of Youth Services worker while he was detained for Colleen Ritzer's murder.
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