I'm actually from the town that this teacher grew up in. Every year we have a run in her memory and have a foundation in her name as well as scholarships. Even after this awful tragedy she is helping so many just as she did during her time on Earth.
Tbh idk what the kid was thinking He was kinda dumb, devoid of common sense. How do you think that changing clothes after the cameras catch you following her is going to change anything? How do you not plan this out with the cameras in mind?
@@summeryoung1026 Just noticed this comment and came down to say this exact thing. She was MUDDY. She was alive in the woods. Not to mention, they were certain she just laid bleeding out in the woods after all this.
One thing that really makes this case sad is that the boy had no friends and his math teacher was probably one of the kindest and most sympathetic people who entered his life, and he murders her. On top of that he attempted to murder a female prison guard in a similar fashion. All I can think of is that this kid REALLY wanted to murder, especially with him already having the tools in his backpack. I really wonder what goes through that boy's head.
I do believe he has some mental issue, but it was not caught in time and did not fit in a curtain category! His behavior was irrational! Changing cloths going in and out! He knew he would get caught, no shoes why? He already wore them! He made no sense! It was so bizarre! Nothing he did made any sense! And the lack of emotion says allote! Most sociopaths try to cover there tracks blend in and some are very smart! He was evil in a way not seen before! He should never be released!
@@rheegret8405 i dont know the exact timestamp but eleanor mentioned it when saying that the medical examiner who did the autopsy determined that colleen slowly bled out from her wounds, because none of them were deep enough stab wounds to warrant her bleeding out quickly. she was most likely still alive in the bin and when she was assaulted a second time in that forest.
The fact that the crime not only happened in the school but that he was able to clean after himself (not that he did a good job on that front) and take a body out of the school IN A BIN and not be stopped by anyone will never make sense to me ! Where were the teachers? Did they all go home early that day? How could no one hear the racket of the bin outside their doors? NONE OF IT MAKES ANY SENSE! 🤷🏽♀️
How did nobody go into that bathroom and see? Was Colleen screaming, how did nobody hear? Colleen was still alive at the time of the rape in the forest, was she yelling inside the bin or making any noise, how come nobody heard?
It was actually after school and they were doing a quick tutoring session with her. This is why you see almost no other students or teachers in the hallway. And all of that time they only saw one more student. It definitely was after hours.
@@luwamalem9537 yeah I'm surprised that no one discovered her body while he was going to get the garbage can. The whole thing was so brazen. He clearly didn't care about being caught.
She smiles in every photograph of her, her eyes absolutely light up and her kindness just shines through. Even in her last moments on that harrowing CCTV footage, she’s smiling. So many people must’ve been touched by her and had their lives and education changed forever. She was a beautiful soul inside and out, and had her life cut short far too early. Rest in peace Colleen :( ❤️
Love how this opened with talking about the victim in depth and celebrating her life. Too many people make videos like this and only focus on the killers.
That's Eleanor for you! I only watch her videos, because they celebrate the victims lives while shaming the perpetrators. It makes us feel connected to the victims and doesn't make the klller seem "cool", it makes us feel anger and disgust at them and want justice. (cool isn't the right expression lol but you get what I mean)
"He was acting out after his parents' divorce." Ah, yes. That classic teenage rebellious phase we all went through where we just...raped and murdered people, apparently.
@@aliciax5854 a huge majority of victims are women tho, if you actually cared about male victims you wouldn’t be using this chance to shut down someone talking about female victims.
My theory: he wanted to kill anyone and probably had those objects in his bag for some time but never had the courage until Colleen triggered something inside him which made her his victim. I’m a teacher so I understand her desire to help her students and feel sorry for her, she lost her life for being kind which is sad. RIP Colleen Ritzer.
I agree!!! Want to also tell u thank you for being a teacher!!! Today's time it can be a scary career path and very tough. My step brother and sister are both teachers!! Kids act so different than they did when we were kids!!! Takes a special person with a great heart to make your career sculpting children!!! I have 3 boys 1 elementary school and 2 middle school!! I am so thankful for their teachers!! So thank you for helping mold the next generations!!
Fun fact: I went to this high-school. We keep a purple light on in her classroom in her honor. The second floor girls bathroom is really hot. Like more hot than any other bathroom. I hated using it. I felt sick being in there. This case haunts not only the people of danvers, but people world wide. I’m glad Colleen got her story out there. But, She was more than a victim. She was an amazing teacher. If she never cared about her students, she never would have been harmed. Students adored her. I didn’t even know her but not a single person ever speaks Down on her. I’ve had other teachers pass. Kids don’t lie, when a teacher is a bad teacher, they will say it. Colleen was just an amazing soul. Forever remembered and honored ❤
@@meggriffin5203 at my middle school a girl killed herself in the gym bathroom. They never remodeled or anything you can definitely feel the bad vibes.
devastating and all for nothing. such a beautiful soul gone, and her trying to be there for her students just made my heart sink after hearing what an end she had to endure. i'm a teacher myself and my heart goes out to her and her family he's a monster and he FOR SURE did premeditate the murder. not only the knives, but THE 3 MURDER OUTFITS AND THE GLOVES?? no one can convince me he wasn't aiming to murder that day
He totally was planning to murder someone that day (even if that person wasn't his teacher)! It just so happened that his teacher, "angered" him that day and that meant she had to die! 🤦🏽♀️ That logic is absolutely terrifying and this is why I think parents need to communicate with their children more to see what is going with them and to be able identify signs of distress! I can sympathize TO AN EXTENT, that the trigger had to be moving away from a place that he once called home and his parents divorce played a part in this but again; that's not enough for someone to murder someone!
Also he had a mask on and this is way before COVID. I wonder what the dog-walker was thinking at the time and then now. It most likely eats him with guilt inside if he has a conscience.
How DARE His defense tried to say that Colleen triggered him and that’s why this happened? That’s just gross. He came PREPAReD that morning with gloves, extra clothes and knives! This is the most premeditated murder ever. Come ON! He does NOT need to be let out. If he gets out in 2055, hopefully by that time we, as a country have established better ways to monitor these psychos, because he Will hurt someone else
Don’t blame the defence, they were only doing his job and may not even believe their own defence. Instead blame the horrid boy that carried out this brutal attack
@S.K because it’s a democracy, everyone has the right to representation and a fair trial. Even if the evidence is pressed up against the jurors faces, fair trial unfortunately
Seems to me like he had issues with his mother, which translated to issues with female authority figures. And Colleen being a teacher, a part of a new school, where he did not fit in. Which explains why he attacked female guard, another authority figure.
@@ramonac6426 i don't think anyone can be "naturally born" as a bigot, they're conditioned to be that way by a society who hates women. believing that "men are just naturally violent towards women" is a psyop from the patriarchy that absolves men of their accountability because "they can't help it". he chose to do that and felt emboldened by the fact that society doesn't really care about women.
She went to the bathroom not knowing that was her last day on earth. This is so disgusting and scary, I feel so sad. Nobody knew he was dragging her body around in a bin like she was trash. Oh my god I can’t.
My thoughts are as well, did no one-absolutely no one! Hear her screams from that bathroom?? How was it so easy for him to kill her in an openly used bathroom without anyone noticing anything? Just odd
It's crazy isn't it!? It's even more nuts how we're literally watching the whole murder take place in detail(minus her actual body being shown). She was even still semi conscious in that trash bin...😥
Additional info: Just recently Colleen’s family filed a lawsuit against the school and its security system because they believed that if there was active security that this wouldn’t have happened. Keep in mind this lawsuit happened very recently, like today which is ironic which is why Eleanor didn’t mention it in the end but Colleen’s life and legacy was also celebrated by the community of Andover
As they should. How can he be walking in and out the school, with changed outfits, masks, and a whole bin but not be questioned? They even said that she was alive until she reached the woods so it was possible that they could've saved her.
Yes, had there been security in there, he definitely would've been stopped, i just don't understand how some schools don't be having security around, why just high school? doesn't make sense at all.Also i wanna add that even if there was active security, i think they would have no way to have stopped him from attacking her and injuring her because they can't be everywhere at all times obviously HOWEVER if she was still alive when she was in that bin, security would've have seen him and probably saved her in time. I also think that all schools should have a backpack checks everyday. In my school, we get ONE backpack check for the entire school year, it's so dumb. School is supposed to be safe, at this point, they really don't care about their students anymore, someone can very easily bring a gun to school and no one would know. Also in my middle school, they would make us wear clear backpacks which was very effective for the most part
What an angel I would’ve loved her as a teacher. You can tell she REALLY CARED. I bet she helped so many students while we were blessed with her presence on this earth. Rip Colleen😢🖤🕊
I really can't comprehend how no one in charge has seen him through all of that !! I'm a teacher in a high school and there is no way that anyone including students can just wander around without being questioned by sm1 in charge about where they're coming from or/and going to
No children need less supervision on school school is a place your forced to go to learn weather you want to or not not a prison your such a child you idea is stop crime is just treat everyone like there a criminal
@@rat9781 just the fact your name is "rat" tells me all I need to know UNFORTUNATELY for you in my senior year of high school I did a day long ligature circuit for the middle schoolers how to spot a rumor and for the elementary schoolers (HEY thats you) the difference between a tattle tale and a truth and unlike you the kids I talked to were so ridiculously smart that not only did they impress me and my co presenter but that Ligature last 5 mins and the rest of the time we played 7 up and while even for the middle schoolers I did some improvising I will put this is words you can under more supervision of children no less supervision yes see if you supervise to much it becomes counter productive because people will just lie and do whatever your telling them not to do anyway that is why the best way to stop a kid from doing something is to explain WHY they can't do it and not as you've undoubtedly said before "because i said so"
@@rat9781 so I make a point and you responded with "punctuation" and thats it home alone 2 reference "if thats all you got kid your gonna lose" and you did if at a murder case you defense was he didn't do it I rest my case" you would be the world worst lawyer I won like if someone called you stupid you'd say "yea well so are you"
@@rat9781 YOU SAID kids need more supervision thats what you said and im here to say it will be a cold day in hell before that is true they need LESS supervision just because YOU never passed the 3ed grade and lack common sense doesn't mean everyone else does supervision solves exactly zero issues period if you know to have 100% of your life controlled go to China you tell kids the consequences of doing something and if they do that thing they face the consequences simple live is about choices not being controlled and you have to face the consequences of those choices not have all your choices made for you by people supervising you that isn't freedom that a dictatorship
This video has had the most information I’ve seen on this case. I spent over 20 years in childhood education and I’ve seen so many violent children, children who threatened classmates/teachers and at least two of those kids brought knives to school. It’s terrifying. As for this kid? I don’t care that he was 14. He knew what he was doing; he knew right and wrong. The proof is right there, in his attempts to not be seen and to hide (quite poorly, thank God) what he’d done. My heart breaks for Colleen and her family but I’m so glad that that young girl ran out of the bathroom. I hate to think of what could have happened to her if he’d seen her.
@@gram5963 and like… why does it even matter??? Even just looking at the time shows that there is at least 35 minutes of information there. I’m so confused why they went for the argument 😂
I can't imagine the trauma this caused to the students and staff, but particularly that student who walked in the bathroom and quickly walked back out thinking someone was getting changed. I hope she's doing as okay as she can be. EDIT: Oh my gosh and Autumn as well!
she probably felt like she dodged a major bullet but also extremely guilty. Had she walked in and disturbed him she'd most likely have been victim #2 but at the same time she probably feels immense guilt because she might've noticed something wrong, could've told someone etc. etc. No way to change the past but it's horrible how traumatized she probably is now. I know something like that would change me. Terrible
this is an awful case. i get very attached to my teachers, and i really appreciate talking with my teachers about personal topics. Colleen just wanted to make sure all of her students were comfortable. she saw Phillip having trouble and tried to make him feel welcome in his new home, and her kindness was punished. rest in peace Colleen Ritzer
The fact that he wasn’t charged for the second sexual assault is just so awful. Colleen would have been still alive if she hasn’t gone out of her way to help her student. She truly is a great teacher with a lovely caring heart. I’m devastated to hear about this case as I’m also a teacher and a female. I’m sending prayers for her family, friends and students who is going through loss ❤️
This whole case makes me physically sick. How can a student wear a ski mask, have blood on his clothes, carrying a GARBAGE bin into a school and not be questioned?? Colleen would still be here if security did their job
To be fair, high schools in America clear out quickly after things are done. My high school was half the size of the one Colleen worked at but damn if you couldn't find a teacher that wasn't a coach busy with their sport or only in the front office after it let put. Based on what I could find on her school, and his path, he likely wouldn't have gone near any of the few places there would still be students or teachers still around. We even only see two other people in all the shown footage (the girl who saw someone 'changing' in the toilet and just a random boy walking when Chism runs ahead of him), and IIRC from looking they may have been the only other people spotted in footage for the times/areas where he was. And wtf security? HA. That's an utter joke for most American schools. Most you have is library or kitchen staff check halls randomly or the office desk worker check you ID. Janitor does a final sweep and lockup after they're done cleaning.
honestly im gonna be fr if i saw someone carrying a garbage bin around school i would think they were a janitor or something, also this was after school so over half the people that would normally be there were gone
Replying to the people saying that no one was there to stop him: did you even watch the footage? He walked right past people with and without the bin and they just looked back at him the continued walking like nothing happened. Why are you trying to defend the killer!?
Seeing her go into the bathroom and then him just walking around with the bin is insanely creepy and hard to watch knowing she’s in there still Alive and suffering … absolutely horrific and the fact he’s beyond chill the whole time !!!! What a monster and he’s 14 !!!!!
I feel bad for the girl that went to the bathroom and left right away. I know I would overthink it for a long time if that was me. She left because she thought that she saw a girl changing and she wanted to avoid embarrassment. She didn't know what was really going on, she couldn't help and it's not her fault. Knowing that a teacher got murdered at her school is traumatic enough. But realizing that she saw her when she was getting murdered? That's something else. I hope she's okay
@@ashleytaccone5298 I'm sure she would look terrified if she saw something like this happening. And it looks like she even giggles a little when she left so I 100% believe that she didn't see anything suspicious. Maybe it crossed her mind that there is a couple hooking up but for sure she didn't see anyone being in danger I also think that the teacher didn't want to put other students at risk so she didn't scream. He probably threatened her too
Thank you for covering this case! I went to school in Danvers (not the school she taught at but the tech school down the street) and we did the floral arrangement for her funeral. The whole town was effected so thank you for this
i graduated from the tech just this year, and this case was still commonly talked about throughout the last few years i was there. i remember me and my friends huddling around a phone in gym watching the news segments about everything
I went too! I didn't hear as much about the case as it happened cause I was pretty young at the time, but I've heard about her case. It's rlly sad, it never should have happened
I remember when this happened. I was a sophomore in high school ~15 minutes away from Danvers and it was so scary. All of my teachers were on edge, especially before we had all found out what had truly happened. I feel beyond awful for Colleen and all of her friends and family. Her legacy still lives on in our community. RIP Colleen 💕
I don't get why it's always the good, kind, hardworking people who get killed. Nobody deserves to be murdered anyways but it bothers me that these cases are about such amazing people.
Literally every story where there's a victim and a perpetrator, the victim is always painted in the best light possible. Its just how it is. Nobody is going to talk negatively about someone who is a victim of such a crime. Imagine you watched a true crime video and the host was like "everyone thought dave was a massive asshole actually, and no one really cared that he was murdered". It just wouldn't happen. Assholes and Karen's must get murdered occasionally, but nobody is going to be the person to say thats what they were
It's not.... they just make them seem that way when they do (DO) videos on them.... "they were such a light, they just lost their way for a while" no... they were a horrible person we just don't want to hear that...
Honestly, I'm just glad he got 40 years of prison considering he was a minor when everything happened, may they never approve his parole, he deserves to do his time that he was supposed to. The whole parole thing is honestly so stupid to me and should not exist.
I think parole for non-violent crimes and even some lower level violent crimes makes a lot of sense. But for things like rape and other sex crimes, murder, hate crimes, etc. parole makes very little sense.
@@Boing2699 Yeah, I agree. Parol makes sense in some cases where someone just went down the wrong path, because some people do learn their lesson. I have a papaw who was super aggressive and had a meth lab. He was arrested for it and eventually was let out, and he's one of the calmest, kindest people I know now. Never has a bad thing to say about anyone and is never violent and doesn't even drink now. Obviously that doesn't happen for everyone, and certain crimes just aren't forgivable, but it's not fair for everyone who's ever been aressted to be kept there forever.
I believe he will commit other crimes in these 40 years sentence and will end up on death row He seems unbothered and keen to kill women all over again even in detention
I remember being in the court room when he was tried for the assault of female youth service worker, back when I was an intern in 2014. The attorney described in horrendous detail, how he premeditated the attack with the sharpened pencil. He showed no remorse from what I can remember and I felt so bad for his mother whom was heavily sobbing when they read out the verdict.
@@luckylucifer I’m assuming this was after he had already been tried for his first case? He was in a detention center awaiting trial for the murder when he attacked the service worker- that’s where he had access to another female staff. It’s terrible that he was able to do this while he was actually already locked up pending trial- they probably brought him back in for this one after his first sentencing. Hey, maybe that at least means he’ll have additional time beyond 2055, even?
Small correction: Danvers is not just Salem renamed. Salem still exists. They are two towns directly next to each other. Danvers was originally part of Salem and split away in the 1750s because they wanted a different tax code (Danvers was a farming town and Salem was organized around shipping/fishing). The split didn't have anything to do with the witch trials, and both cities are quite proud of their spooky heritage nowadays.
The irony of saying that while ur name is literally ayano aishi- but seriously though.. it really is heartbreaking, especially hearing how much love she had for her students :(
As someone who has worked as a substitute teacher before, this absolutely disturbs me to no end because it hits so close to home and scares me so bad. I worked with a student once who I wanted nothing more than to help succeed and the fact that Colleen felt the same way and yet was so brutally murdered breaks my heart.
He needs to not ever be let out and left unmonitored, for the safety of the public. If he was capable of this sort of premeditated murder at 14, can you IMAGINE what kind of evil he would do as he gets older and more and more angry at the world.
I've spent my life as a teacher of middle school children. Only once was I scared for my life. Like chilled to the bone by a student. I told my husband if I ended up dead...this is who did it...leaving name, #, and address. Teaching is such a rewarding career, but is equally as dangerous.
It’s sad how the “bad” children are only that way because they’ve been failed by their parents. Of course, when they reach adulthood they should get therapy to end the cycle. If they continue it’s their fault.
@@RC.- While I agree with everything. Sometimes the parents need to be held accountable to some degree. Not for the crimes the children committed that's BS but for failing as parents, they should be looked at sideways because why bring a child into the world if you know you aren't well off to raise a child. My parents knew I had Autism but never got me help so I always tell them if they did their job I would be far ahead but because they thought raising me without help wouldve did me better they are at fault and I shouldn't be told to fix it because it's enabling my parents
If you're a teacher in america you might as well be a front line military sergeant edit* bc it's dangerous. whether that be violent kids wielding knives or deranged men wanting to shoot at sitting ducks...the classroom has gone from a safe place of education & social growth to becoming a fucking war zone.
My theory on why he committed this horrendous act and especially since he also attacked a female employee at the detention center is bc he had issues with female authority figures. His parents had a nasty divorce and his mom moves him so far away from everything that he knew and with him not adjusting to the new school and not making friends is what triggered him. He probably didn't want to do anything to his mom so, he chose someone that sort of represented that type of authority figure. In psychology it's called displacement, it involves redirecting unwanted feelings onto something or someone that is less threatening. I believe that if the psychiatrists would've had more time with Philip and if he was cooperative that they would've probably found this to be true.
@@rachellockel6750 I totally agree with that. I'm sure Philip felt like he had no control of his life and he took control of what he could at that moment.
He's just a sadist and surely got off on violent porn,clearly has serial killer tendencies,yeah he didn't kill his mom but must have been violent with her
this case is especially heartbreaking to me, colleen seems like an angel on earth. my mom was a teacher who careed about her students like colleen, i was smiling the whole time you described her and how she treated her students and who she was as a person. she seemed like a big beautiful bright light in the world. it is so sad her life was taken from her.
The fact he managed to enter and exit so many times is beyond me. When I was in school you could leave but you could not get back in without someone having to let you back in. all door were locked on the outside
I was a student there during this murder. This was after school during sports practice, so the doors were generally unlocked! School was out at 1:55pm, this murder happened around 3pm. So the doors were open for kids to come back for their sports practice.
My school (different school than this one) had doors unlocked sometimes as late as 8pm so you could leave and come back as much as you wanted most days. Some days some of the doors would be locked but some in the front of the building would still be unlocked until later. And only a few days were they ever locked at 4pm or earlier. And not just students are allowed in the school. Anyone can enter the school and walk around if they want to
Eleanor, DHS is my Alma Mater and it’s been a difficult case to wrap my head around only because I can picture the inside of the school all too well. You have been the only one to have uncovered this much detail all at once. As a middle school teacher when this happened to poor Colleen, I stopped staying late, each day. It truly shook the world of her colleagues-in-memory, just 1300 miles away. Thanks for all your hard work, Eleanor.
you’re literally the only true crime creator that i don’t skip through even a little bit of the video. you’re giving sis. we don’t deserve you. you DELIVER
Damn! It’s ALWAYS THE PURE HEARTED MEN AND WOMEN THAT THIS HAPPENS TOO! Some people are just pure evil to take away good people like Colleen from this world
It's usually women. When I was growing up in the 1960s, women were despised and made fun of and denigrated in the media, especially by male talk show hosts. It may have been because women were just moving into "male" jobs, which was pretty much 95% of all of them. Also, because young women were brainwashed into promiscuous sex. It was also during the 1960s that mass shootings and most serial killers started. There were no mass shootings in the 1950s and before and serial killers were extremely rare; one of them was motivated only by money, which is never the case now. Some of that time is still around today.
This is just so depressing. She deserved so much better. I'm glad that he got 40 years, but I fear for everyone if he gets released one day. What he did at just 14 years old is mind boggling. Unhinged.
I never rlly get sad watching you’re true crimes, but this one just made me sob. Its so sad that she worked hard to become a teacher, and doing everything to make the student happy and help them, just for this to happen. RIP colleen
He was not suppose to meet with Colleen he was just sitting in her room after school but since she was so nice she was just letting hang in there. Also was actually after school that this happened so not many people were in the building so that's why no one noticed him in the school.
Angie Solano this is one of the most interesting comment. The fact that he remained in the classroom without being asked to do so explained the things he carried in his school bag: the box cutter, the knife and three sets of clothes. He came to school that day determined to kill his algebra teacher. That's all he had in his mind that day, hence the "dark drawings" he did during the class. He was waiting for an opportunity to attack.
Yes but there would still be teachers, there would still be after school activities. You'd think SOMEONE would have heard a struggle and her screaming (like the 2nd woman at the detention center)
How can someone see a teen boy walking with a wheely bin around a school and not say anything also the fact that he had red stains on his clothes n still no one say anything it's scary how oblivious people are
THIS is why you teach your kids empathy. THIS is why you take the time to listen to their thoughts and opinions. THIS is why you need to pay more attention to your child and how you parent them instead of expecting teachers to do all the “complicated stuff” for you. For the first few years of our children’s lives, we are teaching them how to be a person. For the rest of their lives, we are teaching them how to be a good person. You might not think your child is capable of this, no one does, but I’m here to tell you that they 100% are. It is your job to guide them in the right direction to prevent things like this from happening.
i just want to say, thought i’m sure you hear this all the time, thank you so much for making ethical true crime content! you and kendall rae make the case about the VICTIM. creating a bond between the viewer and the victim. it’s just wonderful. thank you for letting these beautiful people live on in memory. ❤️❤️
Danelle Hallan is really great as well! She covers lots of unsolved cases and cases that were poorly handled to try to raise awareness and she gives back to the families of victims a lot. Definitely worth checking out!
The likely reason why he was never questioned about the trash bin is that you see that kind of thing fairly often in public high school. The other students might have thought it was for a project or a prank rather than the horrible reasons it was for, and the staff might have not seen him or thought it wasn't worth their time to question it, as awful as it is. However, as someone else pointed out in these comments, at least security staff should have known something was wrong. Then something like this might have been solved sooner or maybe even prevented. Edit: I want to clarify that I didn't even think about cleaning duty when referring to someone pulling around a trash can, but that could also be a reason. Honestly, I was commenting on how strange high schools are that seeing someone wheeling around a bin wouldn't be suspicious.
Yeah, it's not too uncommon. My school has these types of bins all over to prevent littering and sometimes kids get detention or serve some sort of community service agreement by cleaning.
Yeah, most of the things (minus the blood all over bis jeans) he was seen doing wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary in a public high school, a lot of students tend to do community service hours by helping out after school and all
This case haunts me, I seriously want to know why he did this, but at the end I just come to the conclusion that this dude is just evil. He would have done this sooner or later, to Colleen or to any other woman/person. Colleen was super beautiful and young... my heart breaks for her family. Thank you for talking about this case, Eleanor.
One of my theories is that he knew Colleen was a popular teacher between students and other teachers. He also had a note that said “I hate you all” so maybe he killed Colleen because he knew she would have the most effect on everyone in the school?
the part i can’t get over is the fact no one said anything about him walking in and out the school for that period of time?? i don’t know about anyone else but i can’t walk down my school corridor without passing a teacher/student, so the fact he walked around for that long while changing outfits, wearing a mask and a bloody bin?? it’s just weird. He is a monster who should never be let out
As a student during this time I can answer some of your questions! The bin was common to see! Our special ed classes typically involved some community work, including collecting trash from the classrooms. It wasn't uncommon for a student to wheel around a trash bin. And this occurred an hour after school finished. There were no teachers monitoring the halls and most students still in the school were in the field house (gym) or outside for sports practice. Some students were in classrooms to study, but most were not considering how late in the afternoon it was.
I live about an hour away from Danvers and I remember this being all over the local news when it happened. The level of brutality was shocking when they started releasing details about what he did to her. It looks like she paid attention to ALL of her students and truly cared about them. She took the time to reach out and try to help someone she could tell was struggling personally and academically. I was never lucky enough to have a teacher like Colleen and that makes this even more heartbreaking to me.
I have never heard of this case and as a true crime fiend thats hard to come by. Thank you for sharing Colleen's story, she seemed like a remarkable woman.
This case is absolutely terrifying 😳 It's so difficult to even process the entire thing. Seeing the CCTV footage made this whole case more scary.. Seeing how all of this unraveled... I'm just so thankful that that young girl walked back out of the washroom at that moment. 😓
He definitely had issues with female authority figures, most particularly, maternal figures. It’s been shown that teachers often are seen as a secondary parent figure to students since they are the people that kids and teens see most for half their life aside from their actual parents. Statistically, most teachers are women, and in this case, this teen already had a tumultuous past with women as he had gone through seeing a nasty divorce and then was moved a long distance away and then had trouble fitting in. At his age, especially in a time where he probably did not have his father figure and a strained relationship with his mother, he most likely was feeling threatened in his blossoming “masculinity” and to have a woman who is just trying to help him and mentioned something sensitive to him, probably made him snap instantly. That kid was a ticking time bomb and it was fueled by anger towards female authority figures and he probably planned to take it out on any woman that day, and I have no doubt that if he couldn’t do it with his teacher or anyone at school, he probably would have ended up killing his mother. This anger is shown so brutally with the way he sexually abused her, that’s just an anger that is specifically targeted.
Thank you so much for covering this case! I’m a rising senior thats going to the same high school that she went to, and it’s just so heartbreaking that something so horrific happened to such a sweet person. I’m not sure if this was mentioned in the video, but there’s a fundraiser created by her friends and family called Kindness for Colleen/Step Up for Colleen, which is a 5K Run/Walk to celebrate her life. It’s an amazing way to help support their family and friends and to honor her memory and impact on many lives during her 24 years of life. Rest easy Colleen. 💗💗💗
you mentioned a nasty divorce. he might’ve held some hatred for his mother for “putting him through all that” for lack of a better phrase and projected that hatred/anger onto older female figures in his life. (his teacher/staff member)
How scary is this. As a teacher, my heart goes out to her family because she died doing what she loved. May she Rest In Peace 🙏🏾🙏🏾 and may he never rest in 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
i had tears in my eyes and a heavy throughout the entire video... i've heard of this case many times, but you did such an amazing job at giving back this victime of a senseless feminicide her name, her personality and her history. she seemed so genuinely passionate and solar, it breaks my heart in a million pieces...
i could never imagine having your favourite teacher brutally murdered and having to find out the next day when they don’t come in, especially one that deeply cared for their students. I definitely would really be upset and would (most likely) be unmotivated to go to that class anymore because it wouldn’t be the same. I feel so sorry for her parents and also the people she taught, lots of respect to them
Hey! So I was a student there during this time. If it makes you feel any better we were given the following day off to hold a candlelight vigil, the day after that we had an optional school day to grieve, and then the third day following we were all taken to her funeral service by the school. We weren't forced right back into school work.
I wouldn’t have been able to handle my emotions if I was in that scenario. I had an amazing teacher in hs, I still talk to her, and if this had happened to her… no, I can’t even imagine it.
Eleanor… You are such a light in my life. I don’t know what transpired that you were gone for a while, but I hope that it was a nourishing time that you have taken care of you. You are valid, beloved, accepted, and loved by all of us. You have blossomed into this phenomenal young woman that we only want the best for. I hope you never feel guilty for needing to work on you. I hope you know that you are adored no matter what! And I hope you are finding peace and solitude in your head for whatever may be or has been transpiring! We love you, girl!
i discovered you at the start of this summer and ive already watched all of ur videos. you can’t even imagine how happy i am that ur back from ur brake. i was waiting for ur return and daily videos. thank you Eleanor, i love your work so much
Thank you for covering this case. I'd heard of it before but hadn't seen anyone cover it in such depth. Youd think this case would be more well known. So sad. Rest in peace, Colleen 🙏🏼
This case just broke my heart... I'm a teacher and I juste relate so much. It's just so sad to see Colleen get out of her classroom all happy and smily knowing what will happen to her a few seconds later. The whole thing just doesn't make any sense. My thoughts are with her loved ones.
It amazes me like Eleanor said, nobody, nobody saw or questioned him pulling a wheelie bin in-and-out of the school and down the street Into the woods, nobody??!!
My heart goes out to her & her whole community. Rest in peace Colleen, your kindness touched the hearts of many including mine & your legacy will live on forever
I think it was pre-meditated but not against Colleen specifically. I agree with the theory that Phillip was waiting for someone to piss them off and in regards to the sexual element either specifically waiting for a someone to piss him off that he was attracted to or wouldn't have done the sexual element if the victim he ended up killing was not someone he was into. Maybe he just wanted to murder and once he'd attacked her he got turned on. Or he was predisposed to hate women cause of his mum's actions (not blaming her, by the sounds of it all she did was move him far away which obviously is hard for Phillip but not abusive and maybe the mum needed to do that) and also into women. Poor Colleen. This case is devastating. Colleen would have been an amazing teacher and saved so many kids
my boyfriend went to that school. she was his home room teacher and he loved her. from what he’s told me she was an amazing women and teacher. i hope she is resting peacefully 🤍🕊
Mhm. At my school we have many teachers that every student hates because they just don't care about us at all. One of them has even given most of the people in my class some kind of trauma, she's also prohibited form teaching anyone below 6th grade lol. So we could really need more teachers like this, I've wished for a teacher like her many times. Such a gruesome crime, and they mostly always take the good people..
The girl that was going into the bathroom that day was so luck because she may have been another victim of Philips Big thank you Eleanor for telling us the story of poor Colleen i would like to take the time out to appreciate all the hard work that Eleanor puts into makeing all these videos she always puts in a 💯 percent in all her videos we can't thank you enough for doing all these videos 💯 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👏👏 you are a awesome person with a heart for gold 💛
This is absolutely so heartbreaking and sick. I pray that she is in everlasting paradise and at peace(and her loved ones). I'm so sorry this happened to you Colleen. This was pure evil.
Such a sad story. Good teachers are a rarity nowadays. She seemed really inspirational, driven, and with an honest desire to see her students succeed. RIP Colleen.
I remember hearing about this when it happened. One of the most horrific cases I've ever heard of due to all the awful things she was put through, and due to it being done by someone so young.
My middle school maths teacher is so much like Colleen. She is young, our friend’s older sister (lol), excited about maths, has school-related social medias, tried to teach everyone the way they needed to be taught. The description of Colleen just made me think of her.
This is yet another reason why I never wanted to become a teacher. Whether they are good or bad teachers, they are often unjustly hated. Imagine being hated so much by a child that they murder you. This case is brutal and awful. I was not prepared for the details of this case. RIP Colleen.
i have such immense respect for colleen and her selflessness and genuine love for her students. this is such a memorably sad case, may she rest in peace and be honored for her beauty inside and outside ❤️
I’m so glad she’s finally back and uploading again, I’m so glad she’s coving cases like this. But, I wish there were cases that are less spoken about that were reported on, as I know so many people have covered this case already. Not that it’s a problem that she reported on this case as it’s absolutely heartbreaking what happened to her and it’s a case that should definitely be heard
This makes me so sad, i live in Texas and my high school had actual police and security and that still didn’t stop a 16 year old guy from harrasing me and following me in the girls bathroom. I was traumatized after that and had to have a teacher or “bathroom buddy” take me to the ladies room for 2 years. This was one of the main reasons why I didn’t graduate high school at it makes me so sad
Gosh that’s horrible! I was harassed by an ex-stepmother (stalked is more like it). It’s a very scary thing to have to be looking over your shoulder and be scared for just trying to live your life 🫶
i love eneanor's channel. primarily because of her respectful approach towards the cases, the victims and even the perpetrators. but also, because for me, as a non native, self taught english speaker, it's so easy for me to understand the stories and the words because of the way eleanor speaks.
I’m a high school teacher. School surveillance is horrible - I work in the portables and if I got hurt or killed, no one would know or be able to see what happened. It’s terrifying.
i had a teacher like her as a kid and it truly changed my life. i bet she has changed so many lives just by being such a sympathetic and understanding person, no doubt.
I just found a tweet from her: 'No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.' What a wonderful woman. I just can't understand it at all. Loads of people's parents get divorced and don't murder someone, especially not someone trying to HELP them.
Don't overwork yourself just because you took a long break. I bet that researching this kind of stuff is emotionally exhausting. But this video was amazing, as always, especially since you made an amazing documentary right before it. I especially like how you shared nice things about Colleen in the beginning. She deserves to be celebrated. Also, I like your shirt.
This story breaks my heart because the victim reminds me of my sister so much, that one cool young mommy of the class teacher ... This piece of s&%$ of a student makes my blood boil. No words.
