The Female Math Teacher Asked Her Fourteen-Year-Old Student to Stay Behind, Then Her Groin Was Embedded With a Stick the Next Day
The tragic case of Colleen Ritzer
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PS. The story of what Colleen endured at the hands of a freshman student in her class is beyond horrific.
It was a normal day for Colleen. She had finished teaching her classes for the day and stuck around to help students who needed extra help.
She had particularly asked a boy in her class to stay behind. She noticed the boy was not paying attention during the lesson.
A few hours after, Colleen’s body was found stabbed, raped, with a stick embedded in her groin.
She had been brutally murdered.
“A twenty-four-year-old teacher was killed at the hands of her fourteen-year-old student at Danvers High School. The teacher was beloved by her students for her passion for math and her commitment to help each and every student.” — A reporter stated.
Colleen Was a Twenty-Four-Year-Old High School Teacher
Colleen Ritzer was a twenty-four-year-old maths teacher at Danvers High School.
She lived with her parents and siblings in Danvers, Massachusetts.
She was loved very much because she was amazing at her job. She found so much passion and joy in everyday life and always brought that out in her students and those around her.
Her motto was that every day might not be good, but there’s good in every day.
She had a very big heart and loved helping people from a young age.
Colleen used her Twitter to connect with her students; she posted updates and inspirational quotes to keep her students going.
On October 22nd, 2013, Colleen went about her normal routine. She taught her classes and finished at around two in the afternoon. Then, she stayed around to help students who needed additional support.
Two students stayed behind that day. One of them was a new student, fourteen-year-old Philip Chism.
Philip had moved with his mom to Danvers from Tennessee after his parents separated. He was quiet and played on the soccer team.
After class, Philip didn’t show up for soccer practice. And he also didn’t return home that night. His mother called 911 and reported him missing.
Meanwhile, Colleen also didn’t return home from school that day. Her parents found it odd that she hadn’t communicated with them about not coming home that day.
Her father drove to her school and noticed that her car was still parked in the parking lot, but Colleen was nowhere to be found. No one had heard from her, not even her friends.
The school principal had already sent out a mass email about Philip’s disappearance. Everyone soon realized that there was a connection between Philip’s disappearance and Colleen’s.
Philip was in Colleen’s last class of the day and one of the students who had stayed behind.
Colleen’s phone last pinged a few meters away from the school, while Philip’s phone last pinged at a nearby movie theatre. But neither of them could be found at the locations.
The police reviewed the school’s security cameras. Some of the officers searched the school and the nearby wooded area. They uncovered a bag, a recycling bin with blood inside, shoes, clothes, and Colleen’s belongings.
Reddish brown stains were found in the second-floor women’s bathroom.
The footage showed Colleen leaving her classroom at around 2:40 pm. She waved at someone and then walked into the second-floor women’s bathroom.
Philip then went out of the classroom and looked both ways. He went back inside, put his hood back on, and followed Colleen to the bathroom.
Philip put on a pair of gloves just before entering the bathroom.
A few minutes later, a girl entered the same bathroom but soon turned around and left. She believed that she had walked in on someone getting dressed.
Philip left the bathroom and left the building. He returned after wearing a white T-shirt and jeans and ran down the hallway to the classroom. He grabbed his belongings along with Colleen’s.
Then he put on a black mask and a red hooded sweatshirt. At 3:15, Philip was captured on camera, wheeling a greenish-black recycling bin down the hallway. He entered the women’s bathroom and exited five minutes later.
He wheeled the recycling bin out of the building and through the parking lot.
Twenty-five minutes later, he returned to the parking lot and ran inside the building barefooted. His jeans were clearly soaked in blood.
He entered another bathroom and changed his clothes. Then, he made a final trip to the women’s second-floor bathroom before leaving the building.
Philip was spotted talking to another student in the parking lot, and then he re-entered the school and began walking down the halls before he left.
The police found the recycling bin, bloodied clothes, and a pair of bloody gloves. But Colleen was nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, a police officer saw Philip walking around the highway. The officer asked him to empty his pockets. He had an insurance license, a driver’s license, and a credit card in the name of Colleen Ritzer. Philip couldn’t give a straight answer about where he had found the documents.
Philip was brought down to the station. His backpack was seized and searched.
There was a woman’s purse and pair of underwear, a box cutter covered in blood. Philip stated that the blood belonged to a girl. He kept stating that she was buried in the woods.
Philip confessed that he had killed Colleen. He had chopped her neck and cut her throat with her box cutter.
When asked why, Philip stated that Colleen had used a trigger word whilst talking to him. He felt insulted, and this triggered him to do what he did.
Colleen’s body was found naked from the waist down. She had her bra pulled up and a stick lodged in her groin area. Then there was a handwritten note that read, I hate you all.
Colleen had been stabbed sixteen times. She had been raped. And by her student. Her cause of death was related to stab wounds and asphyxiation.
Colleen’s funeral was held, and hundreds of people, coworkers, and students showed up. People carried flowers. Students wore her favorite color, pink.
“She was an inspiration to all of us. She was an inspiration to me to live my life to the fullest every single day.”
The police found out from the other student who had also stayed behind that Philip wasn’t paying attention in class on the day of the murder. Colleen asked him to stay behind so she could talk to him. While Colleen was talking to Philip, she used the word Tennessee.
Remember, Philip had just moved from Danvers to Tennessee because of his parent's divorce. Philip became agitated afterward.
The Aftermath
Philip was arrested and charged with murder, aggravated rape, and robbery.
He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Philip was found guilty of all charges except rape. He was sentenced to life in prison for murder. Then he received forty years each for rape and robbery. He will be eligible for parole after forty years.
Colleen’s family found the sentence unfair.
Her mother still finds it difficult to leave her house because she can’t pretend to be happy.
Her family set up a memorial fund, which is a nonprofit organization. They also set up the Colleen Ritzer scholarship to benefit students who demonstrate a passion for teaching and a love for family. They had awarded scholarships to hundreds of students.
They also hold a march dressed in pink, and the proceeds are used to fund the scholarships.
There is a campaign called Kindness for Colleen, held by her friend on every anniversary of her death to motivate people to do random acts of kindness.
Sources: mass.gov, abcnews.go.com, cnn.com
