Philip Chism, the Massachusetts teenager accused of raping and
killing his algebra teacher, became visibly upset when the teacher,
Colleen Ritzer, spoke about the teen's home state of Tennessee after
class, according to a police affidavit unsealed Friday.
A ninth grade student
told investigators that she was in class with Chism and Ritzer after
school on the day of the crime, the affidavit said. She said the teacher
and Chism were talking about China but, at some point, Ritzer mentioned
the student's home state of Tennessee.
Chism became "visibly
upset," the student said. When Ritzer noticed that Chism was upset, she
changed the subject, said the unidentified student, who described Chism
as "talking to himself."
The affidavit, in
chilling detail, offers the first hint of a possible motive in last
month's gruesome killing of the popular high school teacher. Ritzer, 24,
was allegedly raped with an object and had her throat slashed. A
handwritten note found next to her body said, "I hate you all."
Michael
Weiner may or may not have known his life would never be the same after
experiencing an odd tingling on his right side in July 2012, but
clearly something was wrong. Every day, Weiner would make the walk from
the Port Authority Bus Terminal to his office at the players association
on East 49th Street in Manhattan and, like any 50-something, was ready
to write off the bizarre sensation in his foot as another surcharge of
middle age.
But
a month later, when the numbness lingered, doctors delivered a
devastating diagnosis: Weiner was suffering from an inoperable brain
tumor. The clock was ticking for the union chief, but instead of
counting down his remaining days, Weiner chose to mark time with acts of
courage and kindness, a currency all too rare in baseball lately.
Weiner finally succumbed to his illness on Thursday and will be buried at Cedar Park/Beth El Cemetery in
Paramus on Sunday. He was a Jersey guy to the core, born in
Paterson and went to high school in
Pompton Lakes,
where he played baseball. Weiner was blessed with an extraordinary
intelligence, which landed him at Harvard Law School in the 80s, but his
genius could be found in his spirit and not just the textbooks.
Weiner
was one of the most decent men the sport has ever known, as much of a
visionary as Donald Fehr, his predecessor at the players association,
was an ideologue. Weiner was the perfect counterweight to Bud Selig’s
bullying – able to change the steroid-culture in a way the commissioner
never could, by convincing rank and file players that PEDs would
ultimately ruin baseball, if not the lives of the cheaters who were
addicted to them.
Weiner
suffered greatly over the last 15 months; pictures showed how radiation
and chemotherapy robbed him of his weight and strength, not to mention
his hair. But Weiner never gave up, he kept working to the end. He never
shied away from public appearances, either, even if it meant allowing
the world to see just how devastating his form of cancer was. Weiner
showed up at the All-Star Game at Citi Field in a wheelchair, unable to
use his right arm and losing his ability to speak in long sentences. But
there was still work to be done, even if time was running out.
Weiner
had the guts to tell Alex Rodriguez to give up his absurd fight in the
Biogenesis scandal, having seen MLB’s evidence against the Yankees’
slugger. It was the same evidence that compelled the 12 other players
Selig suspended to take their punishment without a peep.
A-Rod, however, broke with his union when he chose to appeal and is now caught in an endless loop of lies.
Someday
Rodriguez will regret not listening to Weiner, who was only looking out
for one of his flock. That’s the legacy he bestowed upon the
clubhouses, where he was always the smartest but most humble guy in the
room.
Not
long after Weiner became sick, as word spread around the industry that
his tumor was too deeply imbedded for surgeons to reach, all 30 teams
sent Weiner a jersey autographed by their players. Every single one.
He’d
been the union’s leader only since 2009, but it didn’t take long for
Weiner to win over the troops. They were all in, even if the end was
visible from the very first day.
- See more at:
http://www.northjersey.com/columnists/Klapisch_Pompton_Lakes_Michael_Weiner_was_a_baseball_visionary__.html#sthash.eBeK3FBZ.dpuf
