Jurors in the trial of a Massachusetts teenager charged with killing his math teacher are expected to visit the school where the crime allegedly occurred on Wednesday.
Sixteen-year-old Philip Chism is charged with rape and murder in the October 2013 slaying of 24-year-old Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzer.
Philip Chism had his head down in court Tuesday morning, avoiding eye contact at the eight witnesses called to the stand as his lawyers mount their insanity defense.
Most of these witnesses were friends and classmates who described his past behavior before he raped and murdered his teacher Colleen Ritzer in October 2013.
Sabrina Carter described how Chism treated his mother, saying her husband had to ask him to be respectful to her.
Chism's team also established that mental illness runs in his family, with both his grandmother and aunt hospitalized for psychiatric reasons.
Former classmates from Danvers High School testified that Chism was a happy kid when they first met him after his move to Massachusetts from Tennessee.
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However, they said in the weeks leading up to Ritzer's rape and murder, Chism's attitude changed.
Jurors were dismissed for the day around 11 a.m. and are expected to view the crime scene and other locations inside and outside Danvers High School on Wednesday morning. Students at Danvers High are being sent home at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday to accommodate the jury's visit.
The prosecution rested its case on Monday after calling Dr. Anna McDonald, a medical examiner who testified that the attack on Ritzer was so violent that it was impossible to determine if she was already dead before being attacked in woods behind the school. Prosecutors say the attack began earlier in a girl's bathroom inside the high school.
Defense attorneys have acknowledged that Chism, who was 14 at the time, killed Ritzer, but they contend he has severe mental illness and is not criminally responsible for his actions.
