CNN.com - Boy told police his grandparents 'deserved' to die - Feb 1, 2005
A 12 year old kills his grandparents ... Thank You Jesus!
CNN.com - Boy told police his grandparents 'deserved' to die - Feb 1, 2005
"Boy told police his grandparents 'deserved' to die"
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (CNN) -- A South Carolina boy who shotgunned his grandparents to death and burned down their house told police they "deserved" to die because his grandfather had beaten him with a paddle after locking him in his room for several hours, according to testimony in his trial Tuesday.
Christopher Pittman, 15, who was 12 at the time of the November 2001 slayings of Joe Frank and Joy Pittman, is being tried as an adult on murder charges. His defense is blaming the killings on the antidepressant drug Zoloft, which Pittman was taking at the time.
CNN learned Tuesday that Pittman, who has been held in a juvenile detention facility for more than three years awaiting trial, will be released on bail Wednesday into the custody of his family. He will be required to wear a monitoring device that tracks him by satellite, his attorney said.
Pittman's confession to police was read in court Tuesday by Lucinda McCellar, the deputy sheriff who took his statement.
Pittman told McCellar that on the day of the killings, he called his grandparents to come to his school at the request of the vice principal, after another student accused Pittman of choking him on the school bus. His grandparents, who were taking care of him at the time, took him home that afternoon and locked him in his room, he said
"My grandpa said if I came out, he was going to beat me with the paddle," Pittman said. "I came out at about 10 something. I was going to get something to drink. My granddad got the paddle. I tried to get my shotgun. He hit me on my back and my butt. Then he said if I came out anymore, he said he would hit me across the head with it. He had beat me back into my room."
In his confession, Pittman told police that after the beating, he waited about 10 minutes after his grandparents went to bed, then loaded a shotgun.
"I went in their room. I just aimed at the bed. I shot four times," he said. "I'm not sorry. They deserved it. They hit me with the paddle."
However, Pittman also told McCellar, "I don't know if I would do it again."
"Everybody hates me. I'm useless," he said.
Pittman told police that after killing his grandparents, he used candles and lighter fluid to set the house on fire, then fled in an SUV with his dog, three guns and $33 stolen from his grandmother's purse.
After driving to a neighboring county and getting the vehicle stuck, he was picked up by hunters and taken to a fire station.
According to McCellar, Pittman initially told police that a black stranger had killed his grandparents and kidnapped him. But police were suspicious because the seat in the SUV was moved close to the steering wheel, and Pittman eventually confessed that he killed his grandparents, she said.
McCellar and other prosecution witnesses who observed Pittman during questioning described him as calm and lucid and said he answered questions clearly -- testimony designed to rebut the defense's contention that Pittman's violence was linked to his use of Zoloft.
CNN.com - Boy told police his grandparents 'deserved' to die - Feb 1, 2005
"Boy told police his grandparents 'deserved' to die"
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (CNN) -- A South Carolina boy who shotgunned his grandparents to death and burned down their house told police they "deserved" to die because his grandfather had beaten him with a paddle after locking him in his room for several hours, according to testimony in his trial Tuesday.
Christopher Pittman, 15, who was 12 at the time of the November 2001 slayings of Joe Frank and Joy Pittman, is being tried as an adult on murder charges. His defense is blaming the killings on the antidepressant drug Zoloft, which Pittman was taking at the time.
CNN learned Tuesday that Pittman, who has been held in a juvenile detention facility for more than three years awaiting trial, will be released on bail Wednesday into the custody of his family. He will be required to wear a monitoring device that tracks him by satellite, his attorney said.
Pittman's confession to police was read in court Tuesday by Lucinda McCellar, the deputy sheriff who took his statement.
Pittman told McCellar that on the day of the killings, he called his grandparents to come to his school at the request of the vice principal, after another student accused Pittman of choking him on the school bus. His grandparents, who were taking care of him at the time, took him home that afternoon and locked him in his room, he said
"My grandpa said if I came out, he was going to beat me with the paddle," Pittman said. "I came out at about 10 something. I was going to get something to drink. My granddad got the paddle. I tried to get my shotgun. He hit me on my back and my butt. Then he said if I came out anymore, he said he would hit me across the head with it. He had beat me back into my room."
In his confession, Pittman told police that after the beating, he waited about 10 minutes after his grandparents went to bed, then loaded a shotgun.
"I went in their room. I just aimed at the bed. I shot four times," he said. "I'm not sorry. They deserved it. They hit me with the paddle."
However, Pittman also told McCellar, "I don't know if I would do it again."
"Everybody hates me. I'm useless," he said.
Pittman told police that after killing his grandparents, he used candles and lighter fluid to set the house on fire, then fled in an SUV with his dog, three guns and $33 stolen from his grandmother's purse.
After driving to a neighboring county and getting the vehicle stuck, he was picked up by hunters and taken to a fire station.
According to McCellar, Pittman initially told police that a black stranger had killed his grandparents and kidnapped him. But police were suspicious because the seat in the SUV was moved close to the steering wheel, and Pittman eventually confessed that he killed his grandparents, she said.
McCellar and other prosecution witnesses who observed Pittman during questioning described him as calm and lucid and said he answered questions clearly -- testimony designed to rebut the defense's contention that Pittman's violence was linked to his use of Zoloft.
posted by Sanjeev Narang at 3:28 PM
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