Odgren: Is he a criminal?

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Odgren: Is he a criminal?

By Norman /Daily News staff

The MetroWest Daily News

Posted Apr 03, 2010 @ 11:56 PM

On Jan. 19, 2007, authorities say Odgren walked into a bathroom at

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School and repeatedly stabbed Alenson,

killing the 15-year-old boy.

And now, more than three years later, jurors will have to decide if Odgren

maliciously murdered, or if his psychological problems made him not legally

responsible for the murder.

Jury selection begins in Odgren's murder trial on Tuesday. He is charged with

first-degree murder.

Authorities say at about 7 a.m. on the day of the murder, Odgren, 19 and of

Princeton, went into the bathroom and encountered Alenson, a freshman. They were

strangers. Odgren used a large knife and stabbed the boy in the abdomen, the

heart and the neck, they say.

When police got to the school, Odgren said, " I did it. I did it, " and that " I

don't want him to die, " when talking about Alenson, authorities said.

Odgren's lawyer, Shapiro, said his client has Asperger's syndrome, a

form of autism, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Odgren, then 16, was arraigned that day in Framingham District Court. He was

ordered held without bail, and he was sent to a juvenile detention facility in

Plymouth.

It is there where Odgren was recorded on a phone speaking to friends and family

members, mainly about his reading habits and books he was trying to write. He

also spoke about the case, saying he never knew Alenson, and also denied killing

him to different people.

Shapiro filed a motion to inform the prosecutors that he planned on a defense

based on the lack of criminal responsibility due to mental defect.

Prosecutors then sought to use the recordings made at the detention facility as

possible evidence to debunk that Odgren was not criminally responsible.

That led to a nearly year long slowdown in the case.

A Middlesex Superior Court judge twice blocked prosecutors from using the tapes,

saying they obtained them improperly.

The Middlesex District Attorney's office appealed the decision, and the appeal

reached the state Supreme Judicial Court in April 2009.

In October 2009, the court ruled that prosecutors obtained the tapes improperly,

but still had a right to them and sent the matter back to superior court to

determine if they could use them at trial.

In February, Shapiro and prosecutor argued during a two-day

hearing on a motion to throw out the tapes. Shapiro argued Odgren's

constitutional right to privacy was violated, as was the right of a teenager to

have private conversations with his parents.

He also had experts testify during the hearing that a juvenile's brain was not

fully developed and they would be more likely to make impulsive decisions, such

as agreeing to speak on recorded phones.

On Thursday, Judge S. Jane Haggerty ruled that the tapes can be admitted at

trial.

That sets up a trial that is expected to last about four weeks. Haggerty said

prosecutors had a " significant " witness list, while Odgren is expected to have

at least three expert witnesses testify about criminal responsibility and

another to testify about Asperger's syndrome.

Odgren's parents are also expected to testify.

Tomorrow, the final hearing before trial is scheduled. The hearing is meant to

mainly deal with jury selection issues. Haggerty also has not ruled on several

other motions.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

If Odgren is convicted of first-degree murder, he would be sentenced to prison

for life without the chance of parole.

Norman can be reached at or nmiller@....

Copyright 2010 The Milford Daily News.