Latest / The Mind of a Man / Teen_s Secret Plan Revealed in Bizarre Note_ The Hedingham Neighborhood Massacre

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Teen_s Secret Plan Revealed in Bizarre Note_ The Hedingham Neighborhood Massacre · The Mind of a Man

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: When 16-year-old James Thompson was found brutally murdered in his
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: home in the neighborhood of Heddingham in Raleigh, North Carolina,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: there was a small note torn from a larger one
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: marking the place where he was left to die. It read,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: James dead inside. Don't look. The actions of his younger
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: brother that day are as shocking as they are incomprehensible.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: The only clue left to explain the horror inflicted on
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: the neighborhood that evening was the rest of that hastily recorded,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: handwritten note. Hi there, I'm Kevin, and welcome to Just
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Thought Lounge. Today's case is about a search for answers.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Though it is not a question of who, when, or how,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: just why. And we will find that there are some
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: very strange explanations. Let's take a look. Heddingham is a
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: quiet neighborhood nestled along the Neuse River in Raleigh, North Carolina.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Built up around a golf course and recreation grounds, residents
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: have easy access to parks, lakes, and playgrounds, giving the
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: area a kind of country club and resort atmosphere without
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: being an especially high-end luxury community. With easy access to
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: downtown Raleigh, it's a desirable location for families and young
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: professionals alike. A few months ago, I moved across the
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: country to a new home. Amongst the chaos of organizing
• 1:46
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• 1:49
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• 1:52
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• 3:14
  Speaker 1: And thank you to ZocDoc for sponsoring this video and
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: for finding a better way forward for our health. Thursday,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: October 13th, 2022, began as any other weekday for the
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: residents of Heddingham. The Thompson family, Alan, Elise, James, and Austin,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: had lived in their home on Sahali Way for over
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: 20 years. The boys, James and Austin, grew up in Heddingham,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: fishing and hunting with their father. In autumn of 2022,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: they began 11th and 10th grades, respectively. At around 3.30 p.m.,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: 16-year-old James and 15-year-old Austin arrived home from school by bus.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: They settled in the living room to play video games.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Alan called home at 4.20 to discuss groceries with Austin.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Elise had a hair appointment at 6. After speaking briefly
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: and casually with his father, Austin hung up the line,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: left his brother with the PlayStation, went into his bedroom,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: and began collecting firearms. Carrying a. 22 caliber rifle into
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: the living room, Austin approached James from behind. Aiming for
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the head, he fired once. The shot did not kill James.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: though a subsequent 57 stab wounds delivered over the next
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: 10 to 15 minutes did. Roughly a half an hour
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: later at 5.08, Austin spoke with his father once more.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Allen was delayed returning home by a flat tire. He
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: spotted police racing towards the neighborhood and worried something was amiss.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Hunker down and stay safe, he told his youngest son,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: utterly unaware of that his eldest had just been brutally slain.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: After speaking with his father a second time, Austin left
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: the house. Wearing dark camouflage trousers and a large backpack,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: he carried a shotgun. Over the next 45 minutes, over
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: 20 calls replaced a 911. As the 15-year-old moved through
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: the normally quiet neighborhood, he was firing, seemingly at random,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: at neighbors and strangers alike. In the first few minutes
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: of Austin's rampage, reports coming into dispatch were received with
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: some level of uncertainty. Officers responded, yet the authenticity of
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: the reports and the severity of the incident was not
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: yet clear. Just a half a mile from the Thompson
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: home on Sahali Way, The sound of gunshots rang out
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: across Black Wolf Run, where it meets Osprey Cove Drive.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: As the calls continued, Raleigh PD issued emergency communications to residents.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: An active shooter was moving through the streets. Stay indoors.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: News right now in Raleigh, an active shooting situation. It's
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: in Headingham near Osprey Cove Drive and Bay Harbor Drive.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: We just saw we see the Raleigh police right here.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: We just saw highway patrol officers also joining this investigation.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Residents in this area being told to shelter in place.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: The Neuse River Greenway Trail is directly adjacent to properties
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: on Osprey Cove Drive. The Greenway is a short walk
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: for many homes, which back directly onto the trail. At
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: roughly a quarter past five, a cyclist on the greenway,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: who was unaware of the warnings issued in the area,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: placed a call to 911. Um, I'm on New Strip
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: or String.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure about my exact location. What was in
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: my vest?
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: There's like a lady.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: Like unconscious along the String.
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: All right, sir, hang on one second, please.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Because you're on the String?
• 7:12
  Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am.
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it looks like there may be a.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: The caller was joined on the trail by two women,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: also seeking to assist. Together, they approached the unconscious woman. Then,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: they discovered to their horror, another victim, further down the trail.
• 7:33
  Speaker 6: She was bleeding.
• 7:46
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: And is this one person?
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am.
• 7:50
  Speaker 7: What'd she say?
• 7:54
  Speaker 8: Another person.
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: Is there anybody else around the female?
• 7:59
  Speaker 9: Another person?
• 8:00
  Speaker 10: Holy s * * *.
• 8:03
  Speaker 11: There might be another person.
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Hold on.
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: I'm going to run down there.
• 8:08
  Speaker 10: Okay. Oh, my God.
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: Hold on.
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: Just watch your back and be careful.
• 8:14
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: Multiple agencies responding to the scene coordinated a manhunt that
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: led them to the greenway, then into the woodland. The
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: area encompassing the emergency warnings was widened as a SWAT
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: team attempted to track the young shooter into the woods.
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: Well, right now we've moved over to another scene here
• 8:50
  Speaker 6: on Tar Heel Club Road here where we've got another
• 8:53
  Speaker 6: large police presence here as well. They've got long guns here.
• 8:56
  Speaker 6: They've got people going into the woods here. I don't
• 8:59
  Speaker 6: know if they think of the suspects over here, but
• 9:01
  Speaker 6: that's probably what they're thinking at this time. But they've
• 9:04
  Speaker 6: got the dogs out as well. So they're searching this
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: area on Tar Heel Club Road. Again, a large police
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: presence here. And, you know, they just... trying to find
• 9:13
  Speaker 6: out what happened here and what caused this horrific incident
• 9:17
  Speaker 6: to happen. So we're up in Scott 5 and we'll
• 9:20
  Speaker 6: keep you posted on what we see in here and
• 9:22
  Speaker 6: what's going on out here.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: A police dog picked up and followed the trail leading
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: from the residential streets into the woodland as reports of
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: a young gunman dressed as a hunter near the river
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: led multiple search teams into the rough terrain. After over
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: 40 minutes of searching... Officers were growing concerned that the
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: shooter had gotten into a vehicle or found an effective
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: hiding place. The main concern, of course, was that a
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: failure to locate him may lead to more victims. At 6.42,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: teams led by a K-9 unit approached two barn-like outbuildings
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: on a property near McConnell-Oliver Drive. They crossed a fence
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: and continued to the buildings.
• 10:03
  Speaker 10: What do y'all want to do?
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: Guys are getting a little tired, but we got to
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: at least keep walking. Because right now, if he's walking,
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: he's beating us.
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: We're on a track.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
• 10:09
  Speaker 10: Y'all get a practice.
• 10:10
  Speaker 6: We just don't want to get in trouble.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, like, let's push.
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 10:13
  Speaker 10: Y'all want to clear this building?
• 10:15
  Speaker 8: No.
• 10:20
  Speaker 11: Try to stay close to the door.
• 10:21
  Speaker 10: Pick up cover. Got you. Hey, y'all, just try to.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Stay in like one kind of.
• 10:26
  Speaker 6: Once we clear these buildings.
• 10:28
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 10:28
  Speaker 10: Oh, yeah, here. That's me.
• 10:29
  Speaker 12: Good here.
• 10:29
  Speaker 11: Law.
• 10:30
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: Shots fired from the outbuilding towards officers were returned. One
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: bullet hit the right knee of Officer Casey Clark, who
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: was pulled from the line. A tourniquet applied while the
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: standoff continued. Officers contained the building for the next three hours,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: during which time they utilized drones and other robots to
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: establish a view inside the shed. The visual showed Austin
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Thompson slumped on the floor, apparently injured, still holding his gun.
• 11:22
  Speaker 10: I believe that that shotgun is maybe attached to the
• 11:27
  Speaker 10: swing there. Go ahead and pull a little bit more
• 11:29
  Speaker 10: because it's moving his entire body. All right. Keep your cover.
• 11:34
  Speaker 10: We've got a fire on his hand. There's a right hand.
• 11:37
  Speaker 10: Shotgun's still on the ground. He's still trying to pull
• 11:40
  Speaker 10: up the trigger and nothing's happening.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Using a robot, the tactical team was able to hold
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: the shotgun in place while a second manipulated the weapon,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: attempting to pull Austin away from the firearm and his backpack.
• 11:54
  Speaker 10: Get the robot and pull him away from that backpack. Hey,
• 12:00
  Speaker 10: just throwing this out there to you guys, we still
• 12:02
  Speaker 10: have to look at that bag and the less personnel
• 12:05
  Speaker 10: we have down here, the better.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: At 9.34pm, a bomb robot grabbed Austin by one leg
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: and dragged him from the shed, essentially performing a remotely
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: controlled takedown so no remaining officers needed to expose themselves
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: to potential gunfire at close range. 15-year-old Austin Thompson was handcuffed.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Arresting officers found the teenager was suffering from a severe,
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was taken directly
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: to Wake Med Hospital.
• 12:37
  Speaker 10: As Austin was transported to the hospital.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Tactical teams worked to safely assess what items were left
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: behind in the shed and the potential danger posed by
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: the teenager's backpack. The shed was a mess of ammunition, projectiles, casings,
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: and bullet fragments. Inside the backpack, they did not find
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: a bomb. What they did find was evidence of an
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: intricate and deliberately planned mass attack. Hundreds of rounds of ammunition, knives,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: water bottles, and prepackaged food a fishing kit, fire starters,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: first aid kit, clothing, toiletries, and over $ 700 in cash.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Austin had not packed for a single attack on the neighborhood.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: He had prepared for a second phase, and maybe beyond.
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: I am Raleigh Mayor Marian Baldwin. This is a sad
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: and tragic day for the city of Raleigh. Just after
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: 5 p.m. today, Multiple people were shot on the Neuse
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: River Greenway near Headingham subdivision. There is currently an active investigation.
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: At this time, what we can report is that RPD
• 14:30
  Speaker 5: has confirmed five fatalities. One of them was an off-duty
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: Raleigh police officer. Two others were also transported to the hospital.
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: One is a Raleigh police canine officer. Thankfully, he did
• 14:49
  Speaker 5: not have life-threatening injuries.
• 14:51
  Speaker 13: Amazing grace How sweet the sound.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: The events of October 13th devastated the Headingham community. Austin
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Thompson took the lives of five individuals and significantly injured
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: two others, including Officer Casey. Marcile Gardner, who is known
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: as Lynn, and Nicole Connors were discovered outside of Nicole's
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: home on Sahali Way by her husband, Tracy. He had
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: popped out briefly to run errands and returned to find
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Lynn was in the driveway. Nicole was near the porch,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: along with her dog, Sammy.
• 15:39
  Speaker 10: No, I just can't get it out of my mind.
• 15:41
  Speaker 7: I can't get the sight of it out of my mind.
• 15:44
  Speaker 7: Seeing the body laying on the sidewalk leading to the porch,
• 15:48
  Speaker 7: a little walkway, and I didn't know it was Lynn
• 15:52
  Speaker 7: at first. I went to go get Nicole to see
• 15:54
  Speaker 7: what was going on, and I look up, and I
• 15:56
  Speaker 7: see Sammy and Nicole walking. I lay on the porch.
• 16:00
  Speaker 7: I seen Nicole. I could see, you know, I could
• 16:02
  Speaker 7: see it in her eyes. She wasn't with us anymore.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Lynn was taken to Wake Med in critical condition, where
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: she underwent multiple surgeries. She spent three months in the hospital,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: followed by months of further therapy. Lynn survived, though with
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: lasting effects, physical and emotional, from the attack. Raleigh police
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: officer and Marine Gabriel Torres was preparing to leave for
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: work when he encountered Austin while inside his vehicle on
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: Osprey Drive. He was on the phone with his wife, Jasmine,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: when he heard shots fired. He told her that he
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: loved her and that he was going to investigate before
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: he was attacked in what was described as an ambush.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Gabe left behind a two-year-old daughter, Layla, and a reputation
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: as a family man, a doting husband, and the sweetest dad.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: 34-year-old Navy veteran Mary Marshall was found on the Greenway.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Mary left the home she shared with her fiancé Rob
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: to chase her small dog, Scruff, who had gotten loose.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: After serving honorably in the Navy, Mary had attended culinary school.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: She had ambitions to open her own bakery. At the
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: time of her death, her wedding date was only a
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: month away. Her family said her laughter was infectious, and
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: described it as what sunshine should sound like.
• 17:33
  Speaker 11: When Mary laughed, you couldn't miss it. You heard it
• 17:36
  Speaker 11: on the other side of the house. And her laugh
• 17:41
  Speaker 11: was infectious. It made everybody else laugh too. She was
• 17:48
  Speaker 11: one of the best people I have ever met in
• 17:50
  Speaker 11: my life.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Also discovered on the Greenway was avid runner and mother
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: of three, Susan Karnatz. Her husband, Tom, had parted ways
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: with her to take a different path on their daily run.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: He had been waiting for her to finish and return
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: home when he realized that something was wrong. The location
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: tracking on her phone had stopped moving. Friends described Susan
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: as exceptionally kind. She was deeply committed to issues of
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: social justice and helping animals. The first of Austin's victims
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: was the last to be discovered, his brother, James. In
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: the midst of the police response to the subdivision, both
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Alan and Elise Thompson were delayed returning to their home,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: each redirected by police cordons sending traffic away to a
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: safer area. After viewing the back of their house on
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: live news coverage during her 6 p.m. hair appointment, Elise
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: promptly left and raced home. She entered through the garage
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: to find a handwritten note outside of the bathroom door.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: It read, The note outside of the bathroom was torn
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: from a lengthier one discovered later by investigators in the
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: teenager's bedroom, next to a. 22 caliber rifle, the one
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: used to shoot James. The contents of the note were
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: bizarre in several ways. namely the reason he offered to
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: explain his actions. The reason I did this is because
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: I hate humans. They are destroying the planet Earth. Austin
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: went on to document James' murder. He wrote, killed him
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: at 4.20 about, about five minutes off maybe. He kept breathing,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: so I stabbed him, stopped breathing about 10 to 15
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: minutes later. In what could be read as a contradiction
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: to his initial reasoning, he then wrote that he did
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: not have a goal, that he had never been bullied.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: He stated that he killed James because he would get
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: in my way. Chillingly, he ended by writing, I'm not
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: mental either. I was sane when I did this. There
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: was not a single person who knew Austin Thompson that
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: did not express shock at the news that he had
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: been behind this deadly rampage. From his kindergarten teacher through
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: to those who taught him repeatedly in high school, as
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: well as neighbors and his own parents. Their surprise became
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: a kind of mantra in the days that followed. There
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: were no red flags, they said. No one saw this coming.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Austin was known to be well-behaved, quiet in class but
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: curious with the subject matter. He consistently received good grades.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: He had a healthy relationship with both of his parents
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: and by all accounts got along very well with his brother.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: He was liked at school and not bullied. Though investigators
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: could not locate a single peer who described themselves as
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: his friend, they only found acquaintances. Austin was known as
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: quiet but smart. In a recent project, he described himself
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: as calm, creative, and independent. The realization that the quiet
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: and polite kid no one had worried about had abruptly
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: turned into a mass murderer was a harsh one. As
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: investigators continued to seek answers to explain his actions, they
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: also compiled a wealth of evidence detailing every aspect of
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: his crime. Cameras from the house next to the Thompsons
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: captured the moments before it began. Lynn and Nicole walking
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: with their dogs passed. followed moments later by Austin leaving
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: his home. Shotgun outstretched in front of him. He meets
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: with the women off screen, fires, and continues moving. Homes
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: along his path retained the signs of his gunfire. Siding
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: riddled with bullets, some of which managed to penetrate the
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: walls and land inside of a bathroom. Multiple angles caught
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: Austin moving towards Osprey Drive in the moments just before
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: he would encounter Gabriel Torres. Through the greenway where he
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: encountered Mary and Susan, another bystander snapped photos of him
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: from a safe distance behind. He fled into the woods
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: where another camera captured a strange exchange. Gesturing to someone
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: ostensibly off-camera, the teenager called out, there is a shooter
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: over there. There's a shooter over there. Shortly after this
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: seemingly casual exchange, Austin reached the farm shed where he
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: would instigate the standoff with police, ending with a significant
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: head wound and eventually his capture. The gunshot to Austin
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Thompson's head caused severe damage to his frontal lobe and
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: cognitive function. He received treatment for an extended period. He survived.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: By March 2023, he was finally deemed competent to stand trial.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: It seems that one impact of his brain injury was irreversible,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: his memory. He had near-global amnesia relating to all aspects
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: of the events of October 13th. Austin's recollection of his
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: murderous rampage, the planning he undertook, and his motivation was
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: patchy at best. His defense team argued that due to
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: extreme brain damage and the subsequent rewiring of his mind,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: his personality had changed as well as the way he thinks.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: He became a completely different person. Austin 2.0, they called him.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: With his memory destroyed, Austin Thompson was unable to explain himself,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: even if he wanted to. In addition to that, even
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: in retrospect, no one who knew him prior to the
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: murders could point to a single warning sign. So, as
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Austin Thompson pleaded guilty to all counts, testimony at his
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: two-week-long sentencing hearing could not avoid addressing the obvious questions
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: left outstanding. What motivated his horrific attack? And how is
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: it possible that not a single person saw it coming?
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: Was there anything in the three years that you taught
• 24:31
  Speaker 6: Austin that would make you think he would be capable.
• 24:34
  Speaker 10: Of doing something like he did?
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely not.
• 24:38
  Speaker 11: Not at all.
• 24:39
  Speaker 12: And you realized that you taught him, was it a
• 24:42
  Speaker 12: surprise to you?
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 24:45
  Speaker 14: I had two students missing that day, and the person
• 24:50
  Speaker 14: didn't know who it was, so it could have been
• 24:52
  Speaker 14: either student.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: And I told him that I had no idea which
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: one it was because they were both good kids.
• 24:58
  Speaker 14: It didn't seem like anything.
• 24:59
  Speaker 4: Like, nothing was abnormal.
• 25:01
  Speaker 11: There was no part of me that was like, saw
• 25:04
  Speaker 11: that coming.
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: There was no part of me that was like, hmm, okay.
• 25:08
  Speaker 6: It was all very much, are you, are you sure?
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: Are we positive?
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: Are we, are we sure?
• 25:18
  Speaker 15: Like it was, it was a lot of that, like disbelief,
• 25:21
  Speaker 15: the shock, the, no, that's not it.
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: Different, different, different person.
• 25:26
  Speaker 16: Different person.
• 25:27
  Speaker 17: Had to be a different person.
• 25:30
  Speaker 12: Was there ever anything that stood out to you about
• 25:33
  Speaker 12: him that gave you any concern or? pause that maybe
• 25:38
  Speaker 12: you need to have some extra attention given to the defendant?
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: No, not cautionary pause or anything. He might ask for
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: my attention to answer questions and things, but nothing out
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: of the ordinary, no precursors or signs or anything of
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: that nature.
• 25:56
  Speaker 14: Understanding that this is.
• 26:00
  Speaker 8: Likely a parent's worst nightmare, is there anything that you
• 26:03
  Speaker 8: could think of that looking back, you feel like maybe
• 26:12
  Speaker 8: you should have noticed or seen?
• 26:16
  Speaker 9: No, that was, I've, I've run through that almost every
• 26:20
  Speaker 9: day since the tragedy. And I, I don't remember seeing
• 26:24
  Speaker 9: any issues at all or mood swings or anything like that.
• 26:30
  Speaker 9: He was just normal.
• 26:33
  Speaker 15: When Jamie died, part of me died and, uh, And
• 26:37
  Speaker 15: with Austin, I mean, I still love him, but I
• 26:41
  Speaker 15: just don't understand why. I can't put the two and
• 26:45
  Speaker 15: two together. The person I raised and the person who
• 26:50
  Speaker 15: did these things, I can't put them together.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: The explanation offered by Austin's attorneys was a bizarre one.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: They blamed his acne medication. For a year prior to
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: the murders, he had been prescribed minocycline to treat his
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: irritated skin. One extremely rare reported side effect of the
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: drug is the experience of depersonalization. This side effect was
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: described as similar to behavior reported with Ambien, creating a
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: mental haze in which the user moves through life as
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: though in a dream. choosing their actions, but without an
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: understanding of the reality around them. Austin's defense argued that
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: he was moving through the streets of Headingham as though
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: he was a character in Call of Duty. They said
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: he didn't know it was real life.
• 27:49
  Speaker 17: When we look at the video and see him act
• 27:51
  Speaker 17: this way, at 5.30 in the afternoon, without a care
• 27:56
  Speaker 17: to cover his face, without a care to run and hide,
• 28:00
  Speaker 17: acting like he was a character in one of those
• 28:03
  Speaker 17: shooter games that he plays, casually walking down the street,
• 28:06
  Speaker 17: shooting people, slowing down, running for a little bit, stopping,
• 28:10
  Speaker 17: making this 90-degree turn that we heard about when he
• 28:14
  Speaker 17: killed Officer Lopez. He was under the throes of this
• 28:19
  Speaker 17: depersonalization caused by Mina cycling, and he can't understand it.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: The crux of the argument was that in the absence
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: of any other reason for this seemingly well-adjusted and well-behaved
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: teen to turn into a killer, it must have been
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: the drug he was taking.
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: I know it is more comfortable to believe he's just evil.
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: I know it feels safer to put him in that
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: box and to say he's just like everybody else who
• 28:50
  Speaker 4: commits a mass shooting. But that is not the truth.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: Austin's true motive was arguably elusive, his acts of violence
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: inexplicably undertaken with a casualness that could not be understood. Prosecutors, however,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: argued that the teen already provided the explanations they sought
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: in the poorly written note left in his bedroom. The
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: reason I did this is because I hate humans. They
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: are destroying the planet Earth. Austin's internet search history stretching
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: back three years may have supported this motive. In August 2022,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: he searched humans destroying the planet, and in September, mass
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: shooters who hate humans. Other searches pointed to the plan
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: that he was forming. He queried, how much does 100
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: shotgun shells weigh. On October 1st, roughly two weeks before
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: the shootings, he asked, how deadly is double-aught buckshot? And
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: on the same day, do police go into the woods
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: by themselves to pursue someone? Searches for serial killers, school shootings,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: bomb making, and torture techniques amongst similar violent topics appeared
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: with consistency in his phone from 2019 and increased in
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: the 60 days prior to October 13th.
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: But I don't know how you can look at the
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: evidence here, hear the testimony about this withdrawn young man
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: who was on his phone and now knowing what he's
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: searching on his phone and say, well, I feel comfortable
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: that there were no red flags here. I'm not blaming
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: his parents for that. They didn't know. And they didn't
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: know in part because Austin had put on this brilliant
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: disguise for everybody around him because he was a smart guy.
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: He is a smart guy. He knew, better not make
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: this public because somebody's going to try and stop me.
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: And they don't want me to look at this stuff.
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: I want to keep looking at these things, and so
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: I'm going to keep them private.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Defense pointed out that the topics related to violence and
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: law enforcement constituted only about 10% of Austin's queries over
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: that period. They did not show an obsession over any issue,
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: including the destruction of the earth. He looked up more
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: content about dinosaurs, schoolwork, and potential careers than violence, they said,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: and never lingered on any one topic for very long.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: Their expert in forensic psychiatry dismissed Austin's interest in the
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: macabre as nothing more than the natural curiosity of a
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: teenage boy. Then there were the handwritten notes, rolled into
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: tiny pieces and tucked inside an emptied-out chapstick container. Components
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: for explosives alongside simple designs for bombs. One note outlined
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: the materials required. A second provided assembly instructions. The container
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: was located by Alan Thompson months after his son's arrest
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: amongst his things and turned over to investigators. Were these
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: the plans and actions of a teenager in a drug-induced trance?
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: Or the intentional actions of a young man determined to
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: commit mass murder?
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: The reality is we will probably never know why he
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: did this. We do know that he did it And
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: I would submit to you, you know that he knew
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: what he was doing when he did it. And the
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: why is not the inquiry that this court is here
• 32:30
  Speaker 3: to decide today. What you're here to decide at the
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: end of this day is what is the appropriate sentence
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: for what happened.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: Before handing down his decision. Judge Paul Ridgway took the
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: time to offer at least one detail about each of
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: the victims, highlighting great character, achievement, and how dearly each
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: will be missed. It was a touching tribute delivered to
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: an emotional courtroom. Then he gave Austin Thompson five consecutive
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: life sentences without the possibility of parole.
• 33:10
  Speaker 14: The defendant was a highly intelligent and inquisitive person. He
• 33:14
  Speaker 14: suffered no apparent mental health defects, no developmental disabilities, no
• 33:19
  Speaker 14: health issues. In the months prior to the murders, defendant
• 33:23
  Speaker 14: specifically researched, can juveniles get life without parole? And how
• 33:28
  Speaker 14: many years is a life sentence without parole? And I
• 33:33
  Speaker 14: shall now enter judgment accordingly.
• 33:35
  Speaker 5: Mr.
• 33:36
  Speaker 14: Thompson, I'll ask that you stand. For the first degree murder.
• 33:43
  Speaker 14: of James Thompson, I'm ordering incarcerated for a term of
• 33:47
  Speaker 14: life without the possibility of parole in the custody of
• 33:49
  Speaker 14: the Department of Adult Corrections. That's an active sentence. For
• 33:55
  Speaker 14: the murder of Nicole Connors, I'm ordering that you be
• 33:59
  Speaker 14: sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in the
• 34:03
  Speaker 14: custody of the Department of Corrections. That's an active sentence.
• 34:07
  Speaker 14: It's consecutive to the judgment I just imposed. For the
• 34:12
  Speaker 14: first-degree murder of Gabe Torres, I'm ordering you incarcerated in
• 34:16
  Speaker 14: the custody of Department of Adult Corrections for life without
• 34:19
  Speaker 14: the possibility of parole. That's an active sentence. It's consecutive
• 34:24
  Speaker 14: to the judgment entered immediately prior. For the first-degree murder
• 34:29
  Speaker 14: of Mary Beth Marshall, I'm ordering you to the custody
• 34:33
  Speaker 14: of Department of Adult Corrections for sentence of life without
• 34:37
  Speaker 14: the possibility of parole. That judgment is consecutive to the
• 34:41
  Speaker 14: previously known judgment. And for the murder of Susan Carnatz,
• 34:46
  Speaker 14: I'm ordering you the custody of Department of Adult Corrections
• 34:50
  Speaker 14: for a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
• 34:53
  Speaker 14: It's an active sentence consecutive.
• 34:57
  Speaker 13: To the judgment previously known.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: And that was the tragic case of the Headingham neighborhood shooting.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining me. This week, I would like
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: to welcome our newest Sherlock Holmes members, Linnea Johnson, Jocelyn Medina,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Dundra Melton, Robin Elwes, Robert Thoward, Last Star Heath, Sally Maleccio,
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Shauna Lathan, Tiffany Bethia, The Lost Ronin, and Geekerer. Great
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: to have you all in the lounge. I'm Kevin, this
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: is Just Thought Lounge, and I'll see you in the
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: next one.
• 35:38
  Speaker 16: We talk in the comments, they jot in a few
• 35:40
  Speaker 16: lines Tune in and hit like, love that, it's too
• 35:42
  Speaker 16: kind Feels like the whole world is online for true
• 35:45
  Speaker 16: crime Watch them on the run, but it's not a
• 35:47
  Speaker 16: race Really hard to disappear, proof without a trace Sherlock
• 35:50
  Speaker 16: Holmes with it, I put you in your place Got
• 35:52
  Speaker 16: my smoking pipe, only right I crack another case like I.
• 35:56
  Speaker 8: Need that feeling that you brought.
• 36:01
  Speaker 11: Who learned the.
• 36:02
  Speaker 14: Lesson that you taught?
• 36:06
  Speaker 16: To make a kill is what they saw.
• 36:08
  Speaker 17: Found out the lounge, just what you thought. Found out the.
• 36:12
  Speaker 13: Lounge, just what you thought.
• 36:15
  Speaker 16: Found out the lounge, just what you thought.