Columbine (58 page)

a throbbing teen prayer mosh:
I was present for the mosh, which went on for several minutes. The
Rocky Mountain News
featured a giant photograph of the incident. Whenever possible in this book, I checked my observations against photographs, television footage, and news accounts by other journalists.

"I smell the presence of Satan":
I attended the worship services where Reverends Oudemolen and Kirsten are quoted. I obtained additional information by interviewing them, attending services periodically for months, listening to cassettes of other sermons by Reverend Oudemolen, and enrolling in Bible study at West Bowles Community Church, with the consent of Reverend Kirsten, who led the class.

Most of the mainliners:
I interviewed a few dozen local ministers, as well as countless attendees of local Sunday services during the first few weeks of the aftermath. A powerful consensus developed against active recruitment in most congregations and among most ministers. The scene described by Barb Lotze came from my interview with her and was confirmed by many students attending.

The kids kept pouring into the churches:
Huge numbers of students described meeting up at the churches that week.

They turned the corner:
DeAngelis and Fuselier independently described this scene in separate interviews with me.

They traced Dylan's TEC-9:
Information on the TEC-9 ownership came from the search warrant for Manes's bank records. The relevant descriptions are on JC-001-025739.

Detectives interviewed Robyn:
Robyn's interrogation was documented in great detail in her police report. It devoted twenty single-spaced pages to the back-and-forth of the questioning. The passages in italics are paraphrases of her statements. This same report laid out her activities the previous day and her admissions about what she knew and when she suspected Eric and Dylan's involvement. Eventually, she confessed to strong suspicions early in the shooting, so there was little reason to doubt her.

CHAPTER 23. GIFTED BOY

By third grade:
Many sources cite Dylan as starting in second grade, but he did not transfer to Governor's Ranch Elementary School until third. Tom and Sue Klebold provided many of the details of Dylan's early life in their report.

Judy first saw him:
The creek bed scene was described by Judy Brown during my interview with her and her husband. Dylan's quote was from her recollection. The incident matched many relayed by reliable people who knew Dylan as a boy and through high school. I chose this one because it encapsulated much of Dylan's early experience and fragile psyche.

They celebrated Easter and Passover:
Tom and Sue described their religious and family background in their police report. Reverend Marxhausen filled in details during interviews with me. Dylan's writings and videos provided more.

Tom described Dylan:
Tom's quote came from his police report. He also described Dylan as being sheltered in the CHIPS program.

CHAPTER 24. HOUR OF NEED

He organized a vigil:
Depictions of the vigil and the funeral came from my interviews with Reverend Marxhausen. Additional information came from his statements in news reports.

CHAPTER 26. HELP IS ON THE WAY

when the first shot hit him:
Dave Sanders's four-hour ordeal was painstakingly documented before I covered that aspect of the story, so I corroborated existing accounts with sources from both sides of the eventual lawsuit, as well as the 911 tapes released by Jeffco. On most points, they concurred. The police issued voluminous reports documenting the department's take, and for the Sanderses' side I relied most heavily on Angela Sanders's legal team, which researched the case for months and eventually prevailed. This included interviews with lead attorney Peter Grenier, his excellent thirteen-page summary of the case after it was over, and the forty-two-page complaint filed in April 2000. The report by the governor's review commission and the accounts in the
Rocky
and the
Denver Post
were extremely helpful in providing additional details, especially the
Rocky
's "Help is on the way: mundane gave way to madness..." In interviews, Linda Sanders and several friends of Dave's provided their perspective on what happened.

hurl a chair:
This incident comes from the Sanderses' lawsuit and the case summary by their attorney Peter Grenier. It is consistent with other accounts.

CHAPTER 27. BLACK

He started shopping:
The killers' friends gave fairly consistent accounts of their style of dress, in police interviews and media interviews. These are corroborated by videos the killers shot of themselves and by details scattered throughout their writings--for example, Eric mentioned that he had taken to shopping at Hot Topic and the surplus store.

For Halloween:
Police believe Dutro got the first duster, but reports conflict, because no one was really tracking it at the time. Other accounts have Thaddeus Boles kicking off the trend. Boles was an acquaintance of the killers.

CHAPTER 28. MEDIA CRIME

We remember Columbine:
To gauge national print coverage, I analyzed every news story published in the first two weeks, as well as hundreds of later stories from the following papers: the
Denver Post
,
Rocky Mountain News
,
New York Times
,
Washington Post,
and
USA Today
. I also studied a large number from AP, Reuters, and other sources. The two local papers each created a special Columbine archive online, recording all their stories, which allowed me to gauge the frequency of their coverage for the next several years and ensure that I did not miss anything.

The killers were quickly cast:
The scenes in Clement Park in this chapter and all related quotes came from my observations and audiotapes. Much of it was published in my stories that week for
Salon.
The stories concerning "the rumor that won't go away" were by me.

Salon
published:
"Misfits Who Don't Kill" was produced by
YO! (Youth Outlook)
.

There's no evidence:
Mr. D's quotes are from my interview with him July 4, 1999, and were published in the August/September issue of
5280,
Denver's city magazine. The pierced-out girl was Jo-Lee Gallegos, a senior I interviewed in June and quoted at greater length in the same story. I talked to hundreds of students in the months after the tragedy, and Gallegos was one of the few I could find with a negative impression of Mr. D, though the killers' friends were lying low. Gallegos joined the majority in praising DeAngelis's behavior after April 20. "He really made it a point to reach out to everyone after that," she said.

CHAPTER 29. THE MISSIONS

The mischief started as a threesome:
Most of the details and the quotes about the missions came from Eric's postings on his Web sites. They were corroborated by a large number of people who got involved at the time, including Randy, Judy, and Brooks Brown, who called the police several times, after which officers filed reports; a Columbine dean who got involved and talked to parents, including Wayne Harris; and Wayne Harris, who documented conversations with the dean, the Browns, and another family in his journal.

Eric got mad at Brooks Brown:
For the showdowns between Eric and the Browns, I relied on several sources: Wayne's journal; Brooks's memoir; my interviews over a period of years with Randy, Judy, and Brooks; Eric's numerous statements about it; and Agent Fuselier's assessment of what took place, based on all the evidence presented to him by the detective team. The Browns and Harrises saw the underlying conflict very differently, but they were pretty consistent on the details of the incidents relayed here.

Wayne came home:
Wayne documented his responses and many of his opinions about the feud in his steno notebook, which was seized by Jeffco and released years later. Eric's version of Wayne's behavior also provided a fairly close corroboration.

Dylan was miserable:
Dylan didn't even mention the missions until much later, in passing--as an adventure he shared with Zack, rather than Eric.

CHAPTER 30. TELLING US WHY

Guerra would finally confess:
Guerra made that statement to the attorney general's investigators.

Chris agreed to a wiretap:
The FBI transcribed the full conversation. It ran twenty-two pages.

On Sunday an ATF agent:
Details of the ATF interviews with both Duran and Manes, and the full history of purchases, came from the warrant to search Manes's bank records.

CHAPTER 31. THE SEEKER

Dylan's mind raced:
Virtually everything from this chapter comes from Dylan's journal, where he expressed his thoughts vividly. He repeated a handful of ideas relentlessly, and I focused primarily on those. I wove much of Dylan's vocabulary and expressions into the paraphrased sections--for example, "that asshole in gym class," and "eternal suffering in infinite directions through infinite realities" are his words, woven into my sentences.

CHAPTER 32. JESUS JESUS JESUS

Afterward, the crowds trekked:
The account of the memorial service was based on my observations there, as well as on my review of live television coverage I recorded.

Pastor Kirsten proclaimed:
Quotes and descriptions from Kirsten came from my observations of his sermons, his recounting of passages at Bible study, and his interviews with me. Quotes from Oudemolen came from services I attended and audiotapes of his sermons.

Much of the Denver clergy was appalled:
I interviewed a large number of local clergy about the dispute that week. Reverend Marxhausen's remarks were made to the
Denver Post
. I discussed them with him later.

One thoughtful Evangelical pastor:
He was Reverend Deral Schrom of South Suburban Christian Church. He spoke with refreshing candor, and shared his wisdom about this tough dilemma for his peers. I thank him on both accounts.

Craig Scott was:
The preponderance of evidence pointed heavily to the martyr story having originated with Scott.

He had hidden:
All depictions of shooting inside the library were based on an examination of all witnesses' accounts, consultation with investigators who had access to the enhanced 911 tape, and a wealth of physical evidence. Kate Battan was especially helpful. There was pervasive agreement on most significant details, aside from the ones discussed in the narrative.

her mother was unsure:
Brad and Misty discussed the evolution of their responses in various TV interviews, as well as in Misty's memoir. Journalist Wendy Murray also graciously gave me access to her interview notes with the family.

CHAPTER 33. GOOD-BYE

He got excited:
He noted his license day in his day planner. That and his other writings provided additional insights into his mental state.

CHAPTER 34. PICTURE-PERFECT MARSUPIALS

Patrick Ireland was trying:
Patrick's story is based primarily on my numerous interviews with him and his parents. It was supplemented and corroborated by video footage, televised interviews, news accounts and photographs, my observation of him giving speeches and attending events, and photo albums of his youth, graciously provided by his mother.

Something was missing:
The account of the crosses came from my observations in Clement Park, interviews with most of the principals, live news coverage, news photographs, print news accounts of these events and the carpenter's earlier work, and a few hours of video provided by the carpenter to journalist Wendy Murray, who generously loaned it to me. The latter included video a friend shot of him returning with the new crosses, ongoing commentary from him, shots of his home life, and numerous TV appearances. His name was intentionally omitted.

DAD DESTROYS CROSSES:
The
Rocky
uses a tabloid format, and ran just headlines and the photo on page 1 that day. It printed the story on page 5, under a different headline: dad cuts down killers' crosses. It can be found online under the longer title.

CHAPTER 35. ARREST

The Harris and Klebold parents responded:
Information on the locker break-in came primarily from police files, which included interviews with the dean, and Wayne Harris's journal notes. Further reflections came in the Diversion program questionnaires filled out by the killers and parents.

Sometimes she would laugh:
The depictions come from Dylan's journal.

Brenda was almost twenty-three:
Brenda Parker's account and quotes came from her police interview and her interviews with Denver papers.

a crime of opportunity:
My account of the break-in and its aftermath relied heavily on the forty pages of police reports, which included written confessions from each boy, and accounts from several officers, one of whom quoted exchanges with the boys. Other sources include the boys' writings; their statements in court; Wayne Harris's journal; the Diversion program questionnaires; and session notes by their Diversion counselors. I discussed the events at length with investigators.

CHAPTER 36. CONSPIRACY

Detectives returned to question her:
Detectives filed a detailed description of the interrogation, including much more information from the notes passed in German class. Agent Fuselier provided additional insights on the full text of the German-class notes.