Columbine (56 page)

Acknowledgments

T
his book is possible because of the survivors who graciously shared their stories. Thank you all. John, Kathy and Patrick Ireland, Brian Rohrbough, Linda Sanders, Frank DeAngelis, Dwayne Fuselier, Dr. Frank Ochberg, Dr. Robert Hare, and Kate Battan were especially generous. Reverend Don Marxhausen and Lucille Zimmerman were particularly kind.

Joan Walsh initiated this project by publishing my early stories at
Salon
. She gave me confidence and helped me find my voice. No writer could ask for more. David Plotz, David Talbot, Dan Brogan, Mim Udovich, and Toby Harshaw helped me continue reporting at other publications.

Early on, when I needed it, three veterans surprised me with e-mails of encouragement: Richard Goldstein, Frank Rich, and Jonathan Karp. You'll never know what that meant.

Jonathan first suggested the book. Mitch Hoffman later championed the project, guided early efforts, and helped me establish the tone. Jonathan returned for the crucial edit. I was struck by the clarity he brought. Jonathan gathered a wonderful team at Twelve and Hachette: his assistant, Colin Shepherd, added insightful notes on the manuscript; Karen Andrews did a thorough legal review; Bonnie Thompson redefined the term
copyedit;
managing editor Harvey-Jane Kowal was patient with my changes; Henry Sene Yee, Anne Twomey, and Flag Tonuz provided a great design. Cary Goldstein and Laura Lee Timko publicized the book well enough to get it into your hands.

This book went through several incarnations. From first reporting to publication, it took ten years. The one person who never lost faith in it or me was my agent Betsy Lerner. She earned my deepest gratitude. She's also a great editor, advisor, shrink, and rock.

I built on the work of other great journalists, especially Dan Luzadder, Alan Prendergast, and Lynn Bartels. I owe them a great debt. Michael Paterniti reinspired me with his brilliant
GQ
story on the tragedy. Wendy Murray generously shared her field notes. Mark Juergensmeyer's book gave me a deeper understanding of terrorists. Michelle Lopez and Mike Ditto were relentless researchers and fact-checkers. Dr. Frank Ochberg, Bruce Shapiro, Barb Monseu, and everyone at the Dart Center helped teach me about compassion for victims and for myself.

I was stunned by the number of friends willing to volunteer their time and contribute so greatly to this book. David Yoo, Ira Gilbert, Joe Blitman, David Boxwell, Jeff Barnes, and Alan Becker provided great feedback as early readers. Alan stepped in countless times, like lending me his PC and babysitting my hard drive at Best Buy for hours on a Sunday night when it crashed just before a deadline. My mom typed and formatted the bibliography, and cheered every development. Thanks to the folks at Alexian and Health Futures for keeping me solvent with an intermittent day job and the flexibility to put the book first. Lydia Wells Sledge stands alone. She devoted a year of her life to serve as full-time unpaid reader, proofer, fact-checker, researcher, organizer, assistant, and tackler of every conceivable odd task. She claims to have enjoyed it.

Jeff Moores, Marilyn Saltzman, Rick Kaufman, Keith Abbot, and Bobbie Louise Hawkins helped in many ways. So many volunteers pitched in at my Web sites, especially Melisande, Greg Smith, and the moderators, tech staff, artists, and editors. Thanks to the writers and bloggers who featured my work, especially David Brooks, Hanna Rosin, Jeralyn Merritt, Duncan Black, Stephen Green, Scott Rosenberg, Will Leitch, Rolf Potts, Michelangelo Signorile, Cyn Shepard, and all the members of the Brokeback forum and Open Salon.

Ten years on a massacre can be tough on the soul. Great friends got me through. Extra thanks to Tito Negron, Gregg Trostel, Elizabeth Geoghegan, Staci Amend, Tom Kotsines, Jonathan Oldham, Patrick Brown, Jessica Yoo, Miles Harvey, Kevin Davis, Bill Kelly, Maureen Harrington, Andy Marusak, Tim Vigil, Karen Auvinen, Tom Willison, Pat Patton, Scott Kunce, Greg Dobbin, Ira Kleinberg, Justin Griffin, Chuck Roesel, Bill Lychack, Alex Morelos, the cabin group, Natalie and the Muckrakers in New Orleans, my eight siblings, seven nieces and nephews, and my parents, Matt and Joan Cullen. All the early readers deserve a repeat here, but especially David Yoo, for keeping me amused.

I've had thirty years of great teachers, ending with a string of insightful editors. I got there because of Reg Saner, Peter Michelson, Lucia Berlin, and my other profs at CU; Linda Tufano way back at
The Daily Illini;
and my high school journalism advisor, Mrs. Barrows. Mrs. Thacker, thanks for what you told me graduation day in 1979. I didn't forget.

Those people helped me. I'm grateful to them and to everyone who helped the kids. Thanks to every paramedic, firefighter, cop, victim's advocate, teacher, custodian, shrink, Red Cross volunteer, detective, doctor, nurse, parent, sibling, friend, and anonymous stranger who came to the aid of the kids, the widow, and their families April 20 and afterward.

Notes

This book relies heavily on the evidence compiled by investigators, including videos, photographs, and more than 25,000 pages of documents. Where the notes say a piece of evidence was released, it was my primary source, except as noted. Jeffco stamped most pages with a unique number in this format, JC-001-000009, where the 9 indicates it was the ninth page compiled. (The prefix "JC-001" is constant.) I provide the JC numbers and online links to most documents in the expanded Web version of these notes, at
www.davecullen.com/columbine
. Links to many other sources are also maintained there.

I also drew on my own reporting, and the work of other journalists. Three were exceptional: Dan Luzadder led a crack investigative team at the
Rocky Mountain News
to reconstruct the events of April 20; Alan Prendergast of
Westword
tirelessly and brilliantly pursued the questions of what police knew before the murders and the cover-up afterward; and Lynn Bartels of the
Rocky Mountain News
covered nearly every aspect of the story with an unrivaled thoroughness, thoughtfulness, and empathy. I built on their work and am profoundly grateful. Tom Kenworthy's flawless reporting for the
Washington Post
was also an early inspiration.

Quotes from witnesses and survivors come from my reporting and reliable published accounts. All are attributed in the expanded online notes section. Significant outside sources are identified here.

Through their attorney, Sue and Tom Klebold verified much of the biographical information about their family and their activity after the attacks, adding small bits of information.

CHAPTER 1. MR. D

He told them that he loved them:
Most scenes involving Mr. D's speeches relied heavily on my interviews with him and were generally corroborated by others present. In many cases after the murders, I was present. I was the first journalist granted an in-depth interview with DeAngelis, which took place on July 4, 1999, in his office, for approximately two hours. I interviewed him more than twenty times over the next nine years.

twenty-four of Mr. D's kids:
Twenty-four differs slightly from the figure in the introduction to the
Sheriff's Office Final Report,
and from those in some other accounts. The number varies depending on whether those with relatively minor injuries are counted. Twenty-four students were listed, with the names of the hospitals providing treatment, on JC-001-011869 and JC-001-011870. The governor's commission also settled on twenty-four. Twenty-one were shot, and three injured trying to escape.

CHAPTER 2. "REBELS"

pectus excavatum:
Eric's medical records were released by Jeffco. He also discussed his reactions to the condition in several of his own writings.

Dylan went by VoDKa:
Capitalization varied. Eric posted it that way on his Web site. Sometimes Dylan wrote VoDkA, or just Vodka or V.

Cold didn't deter the smokers:
I made numerous trips to the smokers' pit over a nine-year period and found the students' behavior remarkably similar, with one exception: for several years after the shootings, students were suspicious of strangers and extremely hostile to the press. In time, that would change.

a friend videotaped him:
This scene came from video footage shot by a friend of the killers and released by police. They taped quite a bit of routine behavior.

CHAPTER 3. SPRINGTIME

argued in the
Washington Post:
Schiraldi, "Hyping School Violence."

A
New York Times
editorial
: Egan, "Where Rampages Begin."

CDC data:
The 2008 CDC study "School-Associated Student Homicides: United States, 1992-2006" added the most recent data and corroborated the research Schiraldi cited.

CHAPTER 4. ROCK'N' BOWL

Both boys asked for cash advances:
The new owner, Chris Lau, described the advances the boys requested and received and Eric's promotion in his police interview.

Eric had a phone engagement
: Susan gave a detailed account of her interaction with Eric in her police interview.

CHAPTER 5. TWO COLUMBINES

in the Columbine Lounge:
Most descriptions of the Lounge and its clientele were my observations from several Friday and Saturday night trips, all after the murders. The anecdotes and individuals were all real, down to the song titles, and were representative. Additional details were filled in by Linda Sanders and by friends of Dave's who hung out there with him. These interviews were the primary basis for my accounts of Dave and Linda, before and after the tragedy.

Dave Sanders taught typing:
I am indebted to Marilyn Saltzman and Linda Lou Sanders for their book
Dave Sanders: Columbine Teacher, Coach, Hero,
which I drew on heavily. I corroborated and/or fleshed out the elements I used with Linda and friends of Dave's.

"He was never home":
This quote was based on Linda Sanders's recollection of the response by Dave's ex-wife.

Cassie Bernall was not asked:
Misty Bernall's memoir was extremely helpful in providing details about Cassie's life and about Brad and Misty's reactions to the tragedy. Additional information came from my interviews with Cassie's classmates, pastors, and church members, as well as TV interviews of the Bernalls. Journalist Wendy Murray also generously provided her field notes, including interviews with the Bernalls.

CHAPTER 6. HIS FUTURE

Dylan was giddy:
Descriptions of Dylan at home that afternoon came from people who watched the video Tom Klebold shot. Thanks to Wendy Murray for sharing her interview notes for some of them.

CHAPTER 7. CHURCH ON FIRE

This is a church on fire:
The descriptions of all churches and services were from my observations. I attended worship services at nearly a dozen local churches but focused primarily on three: Trinity Christian Center, West Bowles Community Church, and the Foothills Bible Church. I attended services at each of those three more than a dozen times, all after the murders.

CHAPTER 8. MAXIMUM HUMAN DENSITY

seven big bombs:
It's possible there was an eighth. To avoid assisting copycats, Jeffco authorities will not specify certain details about the bombs. We know Eric produced two for the cafeteria, two for each car, and at least one decoy, using two tanks. The reports do not state whether that was a single device or two separate ones, and Kate Battan refused to say.

The main event was scripted:
The killers' attack plan was reconstructed from a combination of their written and verbal descriptions, diagrams they made, and physical evidence, such as the placement of their cars (which they said would be used for initial firing positions). All those elements corroborated well.