Campus reaction to verdict shows complexity of case
■ Some students felt
Kinkel’s age and mental
history should have lowered
the sentence
By Stefanie Knowlton
Oregon Daily Emerald
The nearly 112-year sentence
handed down to Thurston High
School gunman Kipland P.
Kinkel provoked reactions that
varied from a need to forgive to a
sense of retribution and justice on
campus Wednesday afternoon.
In a high-profile sentencing,
Judge Jack Madison ruled that
Kinkel, now 17, would spend the
rest of his life in prison for killing
his parents, two classmates and
injuring 26 others in May 1998.
“This is a hard case because I
think he is clearly insane,” said
Margaret Paris, associate law pro
fessor who specializes in criminal
justice. “I think that this is a really
sad thing that we can’t see this as
a horrible mental illness.”
Kinkel pleaded guilty in Sep
tember, forgoing his right to an in
sanity defense. But disturbing tes
timony during the sentencing
from psychologists such as Orin
Bolstad, who interviewed the de
fendant after his incarceration, in
dicated that Kinkel was mentally
ill.
However Chad Horis, a senior
biology major, said he believes
that insanity is no excuse and that
the sentence was just.
“I do not buy into the voices-in
your-head argument,” he said. “ I
don’t think he deserves to be in
public anymore. Obviously he
planned it out well enough. TTiat is
my problem with an insanity plea.”
It wouldn’t be fair to the vic
tims if he was ever released, Ho
ris said.
Linda Sundell, also a senior in
biology, said she didn’t agree with
the sentence.
“He is only 17,” she said.
She said she remembers seeing
the morbid details unfold on a
Swedish television station short
ly before she moved to the United
States to attend the University.
“Of course he needs to get his
punishment because what he did
is horrible,” she said. “I believe at
least they should try when you’re
young to get medical care. ”
As of Wednesday afternoon,
out of 78 people who were polled
on the Oregon Daily Emerald Web
site, 46.15 percent agreed with the
judge’s sentence and only 30.7
percent believed Kinkel should
be released after serving the mini
mum sentence of 25 years.
Paris said she hopes that this
case will urge parents, teachers
and community members to get
help for troubled individuals.
Programs such as the Institute
on Violent and Destructive Be
havior at the University might
have helped, said Hill Walker, co
director at the institute. He said
that Kinkel’s interest in bombs
and guns should have sent up a
red flag.
Although he said be has not
dealt with anyone as troubled as
Kinkel, Walker refers cases of this
kind to outside mental health ser
vices.
Paris said she hopes the victims
find peace in the sentence and be
gin to heal from their pain and
their rage, but from her experi
ence even victims who attend ex
ecutions looking for retribution
often find little peace.
It comes from forgiveness, she
said.
Sentencing hearing told the whole story
■ With evidence, defense presented as in
a trial, the hearing spoke volumes on the
facts and impact of the case
By Felicity Ayles
Oregon Daily Emerald
Nov. 2 was the beginning to an end.
Finally, after a couple long weeks in a court
room, the tragedy would be over for victims of the
Thurston High School shooting. Sentencing was
finally in progress, and justice would be done.
Kipland P. Kinkel pleaded guilty and the commu
nity was spared a trial that would dredge up
painful memories that would rather be forgotten.
At least that’s what we all thought.
Plenty of tears were shed in that Lane County
Courtroom throughout the hearing. Graphic pho
tos were displayed and horrifying events were re
counted. Due to the plea agreement, the prosecu
tion didn’t go to trial but did its best to provide
one anyway.
The first day of the hearing was a disturbing
one. I gathered in Harris Hall at the courthouse
with about 20 other members of the media and
the public, just hoping that I’d get a seat in the
courtroom and I didn’t get up early for nothing.
Everyone present received a pass that day
through the public lottery system, and we all filed
in the courtroom just before 9 a.m.
At about 8:55 a.m., a hush fell over the court’s
spectators as they heard the distant rattle of
chains. Kinkel was led into the courtroom, his
wrists and ankles bound. He sat while his chains
were removed and then laid his head in his arms
on the table before him, not looking up again until
court was adjourned.
As the hearing got underway, the prosecution
recounted all the evidence found at the crime
scenes, and the victims heard for the first time ex
actly how Kinkel did it.
On May 20, 1998, Kinkel was expelled from
school and arrested for carrying a gun. His father,
Bill Kinkel, picked him up from the police station
and took him home that afternoon. At about 3
p.m., as Kinkel’s father sat at the kitchen counter,
Kinkel came up behind him and shot him in the
back of the head.
Bill Kinkel lay dead on the kitchen counter.
Kinkel said he didn’t know what to do, so he
dragged his father to the bathroom, put a white sheet
over him and locked the door. Kinkel then proceed
ed to clean up the bloody mess left in the kitchen.
Three hours later, Kinkel’s mother, Faith
Kinkel, returned home from work. She drove up the
driveway into the garage and closed the garage door
behind her. As she started up the stairs from the
garage to the house, she was greeted by her son. He
said, “I love you,” and then shot her six times.
Kinkel dragged his mother to the center of the
garage and put a white sheet over her body. This
time he didn’t bother to wipe up the trail of blood;
rather, he went up the stairs back to the main
house and began making bombs. He spent the en
tire night placing explosive devices around the
house and planning his activities for the next day.
The next morning, May, 21,1998, Kinkel took a
leisurely walk down to the end of his rather
1 lengthy driveway to get the newspaper. He sat
down at the living room table with a bowl of ce
real and read a story in The Register-Guard about
how he was expelled the day before. Meanwhile,
his parents’ corpses were still in the house.
After breakfast, Kinkel packed his backpack full
of ammunition, grabbed a few guns, taped a knife
to his leg and drove his mother’s car to school.
Just before 8 a.m., Kinkel entered the Thurston
High School cafeteria and began shooting.
According to witnesses, he didn’t just spray the
room with bullets, but rather he seemed to seek
out his victims. When the shooting spree was
over, one student, Mikael Nickolauson, lay dead
and 26 others were wounded, some in critical
condition. The death toll climbed further when
one more student, Ben Walker, died in the hospi
tal later that day.
Victims and community members, myself in
cluded, watched and listened in horror as the two
days’ actions were recounted.
The prosecution continued its presentation by
showing items taken from Kinkel’s home and
bedroom. These included bomb-making devices,
messages of hate and Kinkel’s journal, in which he
explained how he hates every person on earth and
wishes everyone would go away.
The courtroom audience listened attentively to
the evidence, and a sense of confusion, not anger,
settled in. Victims wondered how Kinkel’s men
tal deficiencies went unno
ticed and how the tragedy
might have been avoided if
he had undergone therapy
long ago.
With the prosecution’s ev
idence presentation com
plete after the first day, the
defense went to work on day
two to paint a different pic
ture of the defendant.
Wntohnnl: They showed a sad, men
llUlrilUUK tally disturbed little boy who
didn’t know what he was do
ing on May 20 and 21 of 1998. He heard voices in his
head, and they told him to kill people. Kinkel was
subject to various psychiatric evaluations prior to the
hearing and the doctors concluded that he was a
very mentally ill boy but could be cured neverthe
less.
Later on in the defense’s presentation, evidence
of mental illness in Kinkel’s family came about.
Depression, alcoholism and institutionalization
were rampant on both sides of Kinkel’s family.
The defense brought in character witnesses,
friends and teachers who testified that Kinkel had
never before appeared to be a violent person. Ele
mentary school teachers testified as to Kinkel’s trou
ble in school and frustration with simple activities.
But it seemed that nothing could convince the
victims and their families. During a break in the
hearing one afternoon, a group of victims stood to
gether in the courtroom, joking about the defense
testimony they had just heard.
While Kinkel sat within earshot, they made fun
of the so-called voices he heard, the excerpts from
his diary and instances of mental illness in his
family. Kinkel simply sat quietly in the corner,
trying not to listen lo their laughter and ridicule.
After the sentence was decided Wednesday, a
group of victims sang a mock version of the Mick
ey Mouse Club theme because Kinkel admitted to
a fear of Disney World. It seems that public hu
miliation is the only way for the victims to ex
press their anger toward Kinkel.
I know he is a killer. He is a murderer and what
he has done cannot be taken lightly. But isn’t he
still a person?
I wouldn’t give anything to be the judge in this
case. What if he really is telling the truth? What if
the sad face I saw in the courtroom every day real
ly does feel remorse?
It doesn’t seem to matter anymore if Kinkel re
ally is mentally ill or if there really are voices in
his head. He has been put in prison forever, as
suming all appeals are unsuccessful.
For the victims, the end is finally here. For
Kinkel, the end wfl come in 112 years.
Victims
Continued from Page 1A
in the shoulder by Kinkel, said he
didn’t believe insanity should be
an issue in determining the out
come of the case.
“I don’t think he has a soul at
this point,” he said.
Thomas also said the probabili
ty that Kinkel will appeal the rul
ing does not bother him.
“Let him appeal,” he said.
Josh Ryker, who was not shot
by Kinkel but helped restrain him
in the school’s cafeteria until po
lice arrived, said he felt closure
but did not believe Kinkel’s clos
ing statement was genuine.
“He took two years of my life,
and that can never be replaced,”
he said. “I have been rushed into
the adult world....”
Josh said when he gave his vic
tim impact statement Tuesday, he
felt that Kinkel’s eyes looked
empty and hollow. Ryker’s broth
er, Jake, was shot in the chest and
hand by Kinkel.
“I don’t think there is any pun
ishment good enough for him,”
he said.
Jake Ryker’s girlfriend, Jennifer
Alldredge, whp was wounded in
her chest, hand and neck, spoke
at length about the effect the
shooting has had on her and her
boyfriend.
“Until the scars go away, until
I can move my hand again, until I
can look at my boyfriend and he
won’t feel guilty because he
couldn’t save his friend Mikael
[Nickolauson], the emotional
pain won’t go away,” she said.
Alldredge also expressed her
disgust with Kinkel’s defense
team, which tried to shorten
Kinkel’s time in prison by ques
tioning his lucidity at the time of
the shooting.
The more the defense tried to
come up with lame excuses, the
more it didn’t matter ... prosecu
tion is great, defense is slime,”
she said.
The victims also expressed em
pathy for Kinkel’s sister, Kristin.
They said the students signed a
note and gave it to Kristin during
the hearing.
“Kristin is one of the victims;
she is more of a victim than most
of us,” said Michael Crowley, fa
ther of victim Ryan Crowley.
“She lost her mother, her father
and, for all real purposes, her
brother.”
The victims spoke in front of a
makeshift memorial to Kinkel’s
parents, Bill and Faith Kinkel,
and Thurston students Mikael
Nickolauson and Ben Walker,
those slain. A black heart and one
white flower beneath the victims’
names was referenced by victims
who placed other flowers under
the memorial, promising to never
forget those who were killed.
Gary McKenzie, whose daugh
ter Elizabeth was wounded in the
Scott Barnett Emerald
y
\
Jennifer Aildredge speaks to the press.
hip, said the victims have plans to
establish a permanent memorial
on the grounds of Thurston, but
the school has not been respon
sive to their request.
But people within the school
district are working on a memori
al, said Cherie Kistner, Spring
field school district spokes
woman.
“The school is still working on
the committee that will develop
the memorial,” she said.
Other sentiments against the
school were also present during
the conference.
“Our principal doesn’t know
how we feel. I don’t like him,”
said Melissa Taylor, who was
struck in the shoulder. Alldredge,
as well as some other students,
nodded in agreement with Tay
lor.
In a statement, Thurston Princi
pal Larry Bentz said he was grate
ful for the “strength of character
which the Thurston High stu
dents, staff and community have
displayed during the last 18
months.
“Perhaps the best way that we
can continue to honor the memo
ry of Mikael Nickolauson and Ben
Walker is not only to continue to
respect each other’s right to heal
in our own way at our own pace
but also to continue being com
mitted to working together for a
better future. Healing is hard
work, and there is still much heal
ing to be done.”
Taylor, who knew Kinkel prior
to the shooting, said she felt sorry
for him but felt justice was served.
“He was a very nice young
man,” she said. “I hate to see him
spend the rest of his life in prison,
but I guess you get what you de
serve.”
At the end of the conference,
the shooting victims expressed
their satisfaction with Kinkel’s
sentencing by making fun of
Kinkel’s fear of Disney World,
which he thought would take
over the globe.
The students sang: “M-I-C. See
you real soon. K-E-Y. Why? Be
cause you’re going to prison. M
O-U-S-E.”