A man who took the life of his high school math teacher was found guilty earlier this year of a similar assault. While his second victim managed to survive, she bravely shared her experience of confronting a “monster.”
The situation involving Philip Chism has troubled many in Massachusetts for over ten years following the murder of his 24-year-old math teacher, Colleen Ritzer, in October 2013.
Chism, then 14 years old, was found guilty of the murder and sexual assault of Ritzer in the restroom of his school. Following the assault on Ritzer, he concealed her body in a recycling bin and transported it to the nearby woods adjacent to the school. After transporting her body to the woods, he violated her again.
Judge David Lowy, who sentenced Chism to life in prison in 2016, described the student’s horrific murder as “brutal and senseless,” adding that “the crashing waves of this tragedy will never wane,” according to reports.
Over ten years after the murder, Chism’s criminal actions made headlines this April when he was found guilty of attempted murder in an assault on a correctional officer, occurring just months after he was arrested for Ritzer’s death.
On October 22, 2013, after classes ended at Danvers High School, it was reported that Chism pursued Ritzer, a 24-year-old math teacher, into the girls’ restroom and assaulted her. A 14-year-old named Chism was reported to have strangled Ritzer, stabbed her 16 times, and assaulted her, ultimately placing her body in a recycling bin that he transported to a wooded area near his school, as per WBUR.
The report indicated that after Chism took Ritzer’s body into the woods, he assaulted the teacher again with a tree branch, took her underwear and credit cards, and subsequently concealed her body with leaves.
According to PEOPLE, Medical Examiner Dr. Anna McDonald, who conducted the autopsy, indicated that Ritzer might have still been alive during Chism’s second attack in the woods. “At minimum, she was in the dying process,” McDonald informed the jury.
Defense Argued Chism Suffered from Mental Illness, Victim’s Mother Described Him as ‘Pure Evil’
During the trial, Chism’s defense lawyers interrogated his grandfather, Eduardo Barbieri, who informed the jury about the teenager’s family background of mental health issues.
Barbieri mentioned that his former spouse, who is Chism’s grandmother, experienced numerous mental health crises, and noted that one of his daughters received care at a psychiatric facility. The defense team questioned a classmate of Chism, who informed the jury that the teenager became “very quiet” and “changed completely” in the days before Ritzer’s killing.
A judge declined to consider the views of a psychiatrist. In the meantime, the prosecution argued that Chism was aware of right and wrong during the incident.
“He is pure evil and can never be rehabilitated,” stated the victim’s mother, Peggy Ritzer, in court during the trial, as reported by The Salem News.
Chism was convicted of raping and murdering his math teacher and sentenced to life in prison, with the chance of parole after 40 years, according to previous reports.
In early 2024, Chism admitted guilt to a comparable assault that occurred less than a year after his arrest, as reported by NBC Boston.
Chism, now 25, admitted guilt to charges such as attempted murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and kidnapping after a worker from the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services claimed he assaulted her in June 2014, resembling the attack on Ritzer the previous October. A 29-year-old employee reported that Chism entered a bathroom after her, pinned her against a wall, and attempted to strangle her while also attacking her with a pencil, as stated by NBC Boston.
“I remember being unable to leave my bedroom for hours for fear that he’d be waiting for me, ready to kill me,” the victim wrote in a statement read aloud in court. “True monsters exist in the world. Philip Chism is a monster, a murderer.”
Chism received a sentence of 17 to 20 additional years in prison following the second attack, according to reports from NBC Boston, CBS News, and MassLive.com.