John Odgren

Hello all,

I've been following the recent Massachusetts trial of 19 year old John Odgren, who was convicted of murder in the stabbing of a classmate three years ago at Lincoln-Sudbury High School. John has Asperger's, and a history of being challenging in several school programs he attended. He was apparently obsessed with Stephen King, the horror writer, was a 'loner', had been bullied, but also brought knives to school. His defense attorney gave him an insanity defense, although whether he was connecting Asperger's to insanity was not clear. According to the newspaper accounts, Odgren also showed bi-polar symptoms, but did not appear to be diagnosed with that.


Asperger's advocates are horrified by the insanity defense, and truly, I am also nervous that this will move others to think that kids with Asperger's are dangerous and insane, which they are not. Will this verdict require schools and districts to put in place strategies to try to determine if a child is homocidal? As a special educator, certified administrator, I know I am not trained to do this.

So was justice served? Probably. Even if he had been found guilty by reason of insanity, Odgren would most likely have been in a psychiatric institution for many, many years. The major outcome of this horrific event is total sadness for two young lives lost, one to prison, one to random death. There is nothing good about this situation.