Court Records Say Chism Left Note 'I Hate You All' Next to Victim's Body

Court records unsealed Friday show prosecutors have strong reason to believe 14-year-old Philip Chism came to school the day of Oct. 22 with intent to kill.

Police say he brought a box cutter, ski mask, gloves and multiple changes of clothing with him, all indicating premeditation. When he was found walking along the road that night by police, they found a knife on him and a bloodstained box cutter in his backpack.

He also left a note next to teacher Colleen Ritzer's body that simply said: "I hate you all."

Documents relating to a search warrant of the teenager's home at 10 Riverside St. in Danvers were initially impounded, but released Friday morning after a grand jury returned indictments against Chism for first-degree murder, aggravated rape and armed robbery.

An affidavit from state police detective Robert LaBarge lays out a detailed chain of events of police activity, starting with Chism initially being reported missing on Oct. 22.

LaBarge describes in detail what surveillance footage revealed of Chism's activities during the time frame of the murder as well as how police found Ritzer's body in the woods behind Danvers High School early that next morning.

Within the span of an hour and 12 minutes, surveillance footage shows Ritzer leaving a second-floor classroom and entering a female students' bathroom on that floor at 2:54 p.m., shortly followed by Chism who had donned a hood over his head and gloves.

Several minutes later, a student whose identity has been redacted from the document walked into the bathroom, quickly walked out and could be seen walking down the hallway.

Officers later interviewed the student, who told them she entered the bathroom to call her father, but noticed what appeared to be the exposed backside of a person changing clothes. She said the person was leaning over and there were clothes on the floor. She then turned around and left the bathroom.

In the course of the next hour, video footage shows Chism exiting and re-entering the bathroom two more times, exiting and re-entering the school, changing clothes multiple times, wearing a black face mask at one point, and is seen entering the bathroom with a recycling barrel, which he then exits the building with toward the rear of the school.

Chism finally leaves the school at 4:06 p.m. LaBarge said Danvers officers later observed blood stains in the area of that bathroom as well as on Chism's pants after further review of the security footage.

Chism then apparently went to Hollywood Hits and saw the movie "Blue Jasmine," according to the timelime -- his phone was last pinged there at 4:28 p.m.

Chism was initially reported missing when his mother Diana called Danvers police around 6:30 p.m. and told them he never came home from school.

It wasn't until after 11 p.m. that Ritzer was reported missing to police and Chism was finally found walking along Route 1 in Topsfield at 12:30 a.m. An officer said he pat frisked Chism "for safety reasons" and found a knife.

At the Topsfield police station, a bloodstained box cutter was found inside Chism's backpack along with numerous credit cards and two driver's licenses belonging to Ritzer. He told officers the blood came from "the girl" and later admitted that he took various items out of Ritzer's car and that he tossed both his phone and an iPhone behind the movie theater.

A pair of women's underwear was found inside the backpack as well and Chism was taken to the Danvers police station, where was he was arrested and charged with murder.

Police say they found Ritzer's body in the woods behind the school in the early morning hours of Oct. 23. Her body was covered with leaves and debris, she was missing clothing and her throat had been slit. A handwritten note was also located next to her body.

Police say a green recycling barrel was found about 20 yards from the body. Clothing and other belongings were found in bushes nearby and a pair of blood soaked gloves were also found.

Prosecutors have simply said Ritzer was raped with an object.

LaBarge explained that police then obtained a warrant to search Chism's home in Danversport for any evidence he may have left, documenting his intentions.

LaBarge said they were looking for any documents, images or Internet activity that described a plan for the crime, indicated Chism's mental status and what might have led him to write a note, expressing a general hatred of everyone.

Police seized a computer, two memory drives and two USB drives from the home, but court records do not indicate what if anything was found on them.