Philip Chism, convicted of killing Danvers math teacher Colleen Ritzer, denied new murder trial
Philip Chism, convicted of killing Danvers High School math teacher Colleen Ritzer in 2013 when he was a 14-year-old student, will not get a new murder trial or be resentenced, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Tuesday.
A jury had previously found Chism guilty of rape and first-degree murder. Prosecutors said he raped and killed Ritzer in a school bathroom before dumping her body in a recycling barrel and rolling it out to the woods.
As Chism appealed his case to the high court last fall, Ritzer's family called him an "evil individual" who cannot be rehabilitated. Chism's lawyers argued that the judge in his case incorrectly excluded expert testimony on brain scans that they say would have shown he was suffering from mental illness, and they said the evidence leading to rape and robbery convictions were "legally insufficient."
Philip Chism won't be resentenced
The court rejected those arguments and others made by the defense.
"The defendant asks that we exercise our extraordinary power ... and either order a new trial or reduce the murder verdict," Associate Justice Frank Gaziano wrote for the court. "After carefully reviewing the record, we conclude that none of the asserted errors, standing alone or cumulatively, requires a new trial, and that there is no other basis on which to disturb the jury's verdict."
Chism was sentenced to at least 40 years in prison for killing Ritzer. He is also serving a concurrent sentence for a subsequent attack that seriously injured a female clinician at a Department of Youth Services detention center.
"We are gratified by the Court's unanimous decision to affirm the defendant's conviction and sentences," Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said. "Colleen Ritzer was a beloved math teacher in her second year at Danvers High School. It was her dream job. As Judge Lowy aptly said in sentencing, she lived 'a life of quiet heroism.'"
Colleen Ritzer's family reacts
Ritzer's family said in a statement Tuesday that the court's ruling "allows us to finally grieve."
"After more than 11 years of waiting and nearly nine years since the original sentencing, today marks a significant step forward in obtaining justice for Colleen," the Ritzer family said. "While true justice can never be served for Colleen, we are grateful that this decision brings some peace, knowing that the convict will serve his sentence, at least until the parole hearing."
