Teen accused of brutal math-teacher murder competent to stand trial

DANVERS, Mass. -- A judge has ruled that the Massachusetts teenager charged with killing his math teacher is competent to stand trial, reports CBS Boston.

Sixteen-year-old Philip Chism is charged in the October 2013 rape and killing of 24-year-old Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzer when he was 14. He is being tried as an adult and has pleaded not guilty.

The trial can resume now that Essex County Superior Court Judge David Lowy has reviewed the findings of a mental health evaluation ordered on Chism, who had refused to enter the courtroom, banged his head against a floor and told a psychologist he heard voices and hoped someone would shoot him.

Chism's mother had said her son was "capable of snapping" and that his family had a history of mental health issues.

Chism stands accused of murdering his math teacher, Ritzer, then leaving her in the woods behind the school in Danvers, Mass. She had been reported missing the night before, on Oct. 22.

Authorities said surveillance video from that day shows Chism following Ritzer into a school bathroom, wearing gloves and a hood, then later walking out of the bathroom alone. A short time later, the video shows Chism pulling a recycling barrel through the school and outside.

Prior to discovering Ritzer's body, investigators found blood in a second floor bathroom of the high school, the D.A. said. Items collected from Chism's pockets and backpack included Ritzer's ID and credit cards, a bloody box cutter and women's underwear.

Ritzer's body was found in nearby woods, naked from the waist down and with her throat slit and a note that read, "I hate you all." Authorities said she was sexually assaulted with a stick. A bloody recycling bin was found nearby.

Prosecutors allege that after the killing, Chism used Ritzer's credit card to buy fast food and attend a movie at the mall.

Other court appearances in the case have focused on whether comments Chism made to police could be introduced as evidence.

A judge ruled he would allow statements Chism made to Topsfield police but not his taped confession taken at the Danvers police station.

In court on Wednesday, the judge said he believed a jury could be seated and ready for opening arguments by mid-November.