# 289: The Kologi Massacre

An episode of [Morbidology](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1463979546), 30 Dec 2024, 51 min.

Audio: https://prefix.up.audio/s/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/s.gum.fm/s-610c47a4222ada0024acb2d8/pscrb.fm/rss/p/prfx.byspotify.com/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/2IMk17EdnEqyRhJTIpIU/claritaspod.com/measure/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/62652025/morbidology_289_the_kologi_massacre.mp3

On New Year’s Eve 2017, the neighbourhood of Wall Street in Long Branch, New Jersey, was abuzz with the sound of fireworks as families gathered to ring in the New Year. But just about 15 minutes before midnight, another sound echoed in the neighbourhood. It was the sound of gunshots, and it was coming from one of the homes… SPONSORS - SmartLabels: Prepare for the New Year ahead with SmartLabels. Purchase their QR code labels on Amazon, which are now available in the UK! SHOW NOTES - https://morbidology.com/morbidology-the-podcast-289-the-kologi-massacre/ PATREON - https://www.patreon.com/morbidology YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/morbidology Audio Credit: Epidemic Sound Evening of Chaos - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Empty Reflections - ErikMMusic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgq4SPKHlyI A Mothers Sacrifice - OurMusicBox - https://ourmusicbox.com/ Dark Tranquility - Anno Domini Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6mBav72Ak Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/morbidology--3527306/support.

## Transcript

[0:34] Speaker 1: I think it was like something subconsciously, like I had
[0:36] Speaker 1: to do it. Did you feel anger at certain moments? Yeah? Yeah.
[0:50] Speaker 2: Long Branch is a coastal city in New Jersey known
[0:53] Speaker 2: for its historic beaches, vibrant boardwalk, and quaint neighborhoods. Its
[0:58] Speaker 2: history dates back to the eighties century, when it was
[1:01] Speaker 2: originally a summer resort for the wealthy residence of New
[1:04] Speaker 2: York and Philadelphia. It was even a gateway for presidents,
[1:09] Speaker 2: earning it the nickname the Nation's summer capital. The cities
[1:13] Speaker 2: nestled along the Atlantic Ocean, and it still serves as
[1:16] Speaker 2: a popular summer destination, but has a population of around
[1:20] Speaker 2: thirty three thousand. Among these residents are families that live
[1:24] Speaker 2: along Wall Street, a residential neighborhood dotted with large homes
[1:29] Speaker 2: and well manicured gardens. As the final ores of two
[1:32] Speaker 2: thousand and seventeen ticked away, the families of Wall Street
[1:36] Speaker 2: gathered at their homes, eager to welcome in the new
[1:39] Speaker 2: year together. Children were allowed to stab late for this
[1:42] Speaker 2: night only while their parents toasted with champagne were a
[1:46] Speaker 2: bottle of beer outside. The night was crisp and still,
[1:50] Speaker 2: except for the occasional crackle of distant fireworks, But just
[1:55] Speaker 2: before midnight, a sudden burst of sound shattered the calm.
[2:00] Speaker 2: The pop of fireworks was abruptly drawned out by a
[2:03] Speaker 2: series of sharp, deafening bangs. The signs weren't celebratory. They
[2:09] Speaker 2: were gunshots, and they were coming from one of the
[2:12] Speaker 2: homes on Wall Street. Stephen Cologi was a lifelong resident
[2:31] Speaker 2: of Long Branch, New Jersey, where he worked for most
[2:34] Speaker 2: of his forty four years as a mailman. Known for
[2:38] Speaker 2: his passion for sports, Stephen played softball in several leagues
[2:41] Speaker 2: and took pride in his bodybuilding. He also dedicated his
[2:45] Speaker 2: time to coaching youth baseball, but his greatest joy came
[2:48] Speaker 2: from being a father. Stephen and his forty two year
[2:52] Speaker 2: old wife, Linda, shared a close knit family with three children,
[2:56] Speaker 2: twenty year old Stephen Junior, eighteen year old Brittany, and
[2:59] Speaker 2: sixteen year old Scott. Additionally, they had raised Linda's twenty
[3:04] Speaker 2: five year old son, Jonathan Rooz, from a previous relationship.
[3:10] Speaker 2: Linda had grown up in Foster Care and Jersey City
[3:12] Speaker 2: after she lost her parents at a young age. She
[3:17] Speaker 2: had settled in Long Branch in early ninety nineties, where
[3:19] Speaker 2: she married Stephen in nineteen ninety seven. Linda was deeply
[3:24] Speaker 2: devoted to her family, spending her life caring for her children.
[3:29] Speaker 2: Her cousin described the Cologis as a loving, fun family
[3:32] Speaker 2: who enjoyed spending time together. They were familiar faces at
[3:37] Speaker 2: local softball games in the Welsh Farm's convenience store, where
[3:41] Speaker 2: they often brought lottery tickets. By twenty seventeen, the Kalogi
[3:46] Speaker 2: family lived in a red brick home along Wall Street
[3:49] Speaker 2: and Long Branch. Although the house was a decent size,
[3:53] Speaker 2: it felt crammed with all of the children except Jonathan
[3:57] Speaker 2: still living at home. Sometan had his own place in
[4:01] Speaker 2: Tom's River where he ran a wireless technology business. Brittany,
[4:07] Speaker 2: the family's only daughter, had recently begun her freshman year
[4:10] Speaker 2: at Stockton University, where she was studying health science and
[4:14] Speaker 2: making friends with Ease. Stephen Colodi was the sole provider
[4:23] Speaker 2: for his family, often working multiple jobs to make ends meet.
[4:29] Speaker 2: His friend Ronnie Patio recalled how Stephen tirelessly took on
[4:33] Speaker 2: long shifts from midnight to nine in the morning. He
[4:38] Speaker 2: did everything and anything to support his family. After years
[4:42] Speaker 2: of working for the US Postal Service, Stephen transitioned to
[4:46] Speaker 2: Kellogg's warehouse in Cranberry, where he learned the company's shipping
[4:49] Speaker 2: and delivery services, even secured a job for his son,
[4:54] Speaker 2: Stephen Junior. Stephen's manager, Roger Daniels, described him as a
[4:59] Speaker 2: hard working man who steed away from workplace drama and
[5:02] Speaker 2: was always committed to doing the best. However, in two
[5:07] Speaker 2: thousand and seventeen, both Stephen and his son lost their
[5:10] Speaker 2: jobs when Kello closed the Cranberry warehouse. It was a
[5:14] Speaker 2: devastating blow to the family, who was already burdened with
[5:18] Speaker 2: financial hardships. They had been struggling for years, facing a
[5:23] Speaker 2: pending foreclosure in their home, which they purchased in two
[5:26] Speaker 2: thousand and two for a hundred and sixty thousand dollars.
[5:30] Speaker 2: Over the years, the family had taken out multiple mortgages,
[5:33] Speaker 2: and in two thousand and nine, the couple filed for bankruptcy.
[5:38] Speaker 2: They owed over seventy two thousand dollars on credit cards
[5:41] Speaker 2: and leasing hoont the Civic for fifteen thousand dollars. Despite
[5:46] Speaker 2: their struggles, however, Stephen and Linda remained dedicated to their children.
[5:51] Speaker 2: They were known for their generosity, often housing barbecues and
[5:55] Speaker 2: welcoming their children's friends into their home. Linda, who had
[6:00] Speaker 2: worked as a bus driver for the public schools, had
[6:03] Speaker 2: been collecting unemployment while caring for their sixteen year old son, Scott.
[6:08] Speaker 2: He had suffered from developmental delays in learning, speech, and
[6:12] Speaker 2: social skills. By the time he was three, he was
[6:15] Speaker 2: already undergoing therapy to address his problems. An MRI scan
[6:20] Speaker 2: had showed an abnormality in Scott's brain. His family believed
[6:25] Speaker 2: that it was a tumor, but doctors concluded it was
[6:28] Speaker 2: most likely an area of gliosis, an abnormality caused by
[6:32] Speaker 2: brain damage where dense fibrous networks of cells accumulated. As
[6:38] Speaker 2: Scott grew, people noticed that he had a flat effect.
[6:42] Speaker 2: He didn't seem to understand the consequences of the things
[6:45] Speaker 2: that he would say. His aunt, Michelle Molly Knew, said
[6:49] Speaker 2: he lacked empathy. Whenever somebody died, Scott would respond by
[6:53] Speaker 2: shrugging and saying it happens. Some family members were sure
[6:59] Speaker 2: that Scott was on the old autism spectrum, but he
[7:01] Speaker 2: was never diagnosed. Instead, he was diagnosed with attension deficit
[7:06] Speaker 2: hyperactivity disorder. But then the hallucinations began around the age
[7:12] Speaker 2: of seven, Scott started to hear voices from his classmates
[7:16] Speaker 2: and his teachers. Although there was nobody there, he saw faces,
[7:21] Speaker 2: including one of a woman who sat on his bed
[7:24] Speaker 2: and turned from red to black. Eventually, Linda began homeschooling
[7:29] Speaker 2: Scott after he struggled in the traditional school system. He'd
[7:33] Speaker 2: faced relentless bullying, and he had difficulty making friends. As
[7:38] Speaker 2: a child, Scott had been quiet and reserved, but once
[7:41] Speaker 2: he began homeschooling, he blossomed into a more outgoing and
[7:44] Speaker 2: humorous teenager, somebody who was easier to interact with. He
[7:50] Speaker 2: still had his moodswings, however, where he would go from
[7:53] Speaker 2: very happy to very upset at the drop of a hat,
[7:56] Speaker 2: or suddenly erupt into laughter. He would get lost in
[8:00] Speaker 2: his own mind, sometimes for as long as an r
[8:03] Speaker 2: without realizing how much time had passed. Scott even sometimes
[8:07] Speaker 2: had to be shaken back into reality. Though he had
[8:11] Speaker 2: typical teenage dreams such as wanting a girlfriend, thinking about
[8:16] Speaker 2: college or the military, Scott wasn't like the other kids
[8:19] Speaker 2: his age. He loved watching children's cartoons, often slept in
[8:24] Speaker 2: his parents' bed. He needed to be dressed each morning,
[8:28] Speaker 2: and he still believed in Santa Claus. On New Year's
[8:37] Speaker 2: Eve of twenty seventeen, the atmosphere and Long Branch, New
[8:41] Speaker 2: Jersey was filled with excitement and anticipation. Local businesses, especially bars,
[8:47] Speaker 2: were preparing for the night's festivities, advertising their events and
[8:51] Speaker 2: drawing crowds ready to ring in the new year. That morning,
[8:56] Speaker 2: Linda Kologi, like many days before, visited Welsh Farm convenience
[9:00] Speaker 2: store across from the family's home. She picked up a
[9:04] Speaker 2: bottle of water and a lottery ticket, a small hope
[9:08] Speaker 2: amidst the family's ongoing financial struggles. Meanwhile, her husband Stephen
[9:13] Speaker 2: stopped by Flavo's liquor store three blocks away to grab,
[9:17] Speaker 2: as usual, a six pack of Miller lout and a
[9:20] Speaker 2: pack of Newport cigarettes. According to cashier Nick Pateel, it
[9:26] Speaker 2: was just like any other day. The Clogi family household
[9:29] Speaker 2: was busy that evening, with all the family members and
[9:32] Speaker 2: a few guests gathered to celebrate the new year. Brittany
[9:37] Speaker 2: had come home from Stockton University for the holidays, and
[9:41] Speaker 2: Stephen's father Adrian was there with his long term girlfriend,
[9:45] Speaker 2: seventy year old Mary's Schultz. Mary was more like a
[9:49] Speaker 2: grandmother to the cology children, and was described by the
[9:53] Speaker 2: family as Adrian's solemate. They'd been together for decades. Mary
[9:59] Speaker 2: was a retired human resource specialist, and she was well
[10:02] Speaker 2: loved in the community for her warm presence and dedication
[10:06] Speaker 2: to preserving local history. She served on the board of
[10:09] Speaker 2: the Monmouth County Genealogy Society and co founded its African
[10:14] Speaker 2: American Special Interest Group. She was also a passionate actress
[10:19] Speaker 2: in community theater and committed to restoring local cemeteries. Joining
[10:25] Speaker 2: the family's festivities that night was Stephen Junior's girlfriend, Rafaela Bontempo.
[10:32] Speaker 2: She'd been invited over for the annual New Year's Eve
[10:35] Speaker 2: party that Stephen and Linda hosted every year. As the
[10:39] Speaker 2: night unfolded, excitement filled the home, with everybody preparing to
[10:43] Speaker 2: welcome in the new year. That this celebration would end
[10:47] Speaker 2: in tragedy. About fifteen minutes before midnight, Wall Street resident
[10:52] Speaker 2: Sergio Diaz stepped outside to grab a few beers from
[10:56] Speaker 2: his porch. The familiar sign of fireworks crackled in the sky,
[11:01] Speaker 2: lighting up the neighborhood, but amidst the burst of color,
[11:06] Speaker 2: a strange, unsettling pop echoed in the air. Then came
[11:11] Speaker 2: several more. Sergio froze, these weren't fireworks, they were gunshots.
[11:25] Speaker 2: Seconds before the gunshot shattered the peaceful neighborhood of Long Branch,
[11:29] Speaker 2: the Kologi family was preparing for midnight, ready to welcome
[11:33] Speaker 2: twoenty to eighteen. In the living room, everyone wore party
[11:38] Speaker 2: hats and sunglasses, laughter filling the air as Linda handed
[11:42] Speaker 2: out party favors. But then she noticed that Scott wasn't there.
[11:49] Speaker 2: He'd slipped away in his bedroom, unnoticed in the excitement.
[11:53] Speaker 2: Concerned for her sixteen year old son, Linda headed upstairs
[11:57] Speaker 2: to check on him. There was only fifteen minutes before midnight,
[12:02] Speaker 2: and she wanted the family to ring in the new
[12:04] Speaker 2: year together. Moments later, however, a loud pop echoed through
[12:10] Speaker 2: the home, startling everybody that remained downstairs. At first they
[12:15] Speaker 2: thought it might have been a party popper, but then
[12:18] Speaker 2: more shots followed in quick succession. Panic gripped the room.
[12:23] Speaker 2: Everyone scrambled as gunfire tore through the ceiling.
[12:28] Speaker 3: Rafella recalled, first, there was a pop, everything acted very fast,
[12:35] Speaker 3: but he thought for a second might have been party poppers.
[12:39] Speaker 4: But warshots after that, and window on the screened and
[12:46] Speaker 4: That's when fixty Stephen Sor ran upstairs, and everybody scrambled
[12:52] Speaker 4: to get out.
[12:53] Speaker 1: Of the house.
[12:54] Speaker 2: Instinct took over. Most rushed in the kitchen, huddling in
[12:58] Speaker 2: a corner in terror, but Stephen ran up the stairs,
[13:03] Speaker 2: determined to confront whatever was happening, while Stephen Junior bolted outside.
[13:10] Speaker 2: In the kitchen, Rafella, Brittany, Adrian and Mary huddled together,
[13:15] Speaker 2: their breath shallow as they tried to make sense of
[13:17] Speaker 2: the chaos. Had somebody broken in and opened fire. They
[13:23] Speaker 2: heard a few more pops, and seconds later they could
[13:26] Speaker 2: hear somebody descending the stairs. A figure emerged. They were
[13:32] Speaker 2: dressed in all black and were wearing black sunglasses. They
[13:37] Speaker 2: carried a rifle. It was sixteen year old Scott. He
[13:43] Speaker 2: was wearing his terminator Halloween costume, the same one he'd
[13:47] Speaker 2: worn months earlier, only now it felt terrifyingly real. Without hesitation,
[13:55] Speaker 2: Scott raised the rifle and opened fire. Mary and Brittany
[13:59] Speaker 2: fell to the floor as Raffella cowered behind the refrigerator
[14:03] Speaker 2: and frantically called nine one one as her hands trembled.
[14:08] Speaker 2: She tried to stay quiet, barely able to get the
[14:11] Speaker 2: words out. She was terrified that Scott would hear her.
[14:17] Speaker 2: Glancing around the refrigerator, she saw Adrian lying protectively over Mary,
[14:21] Speaker 2: trying to shield her with his body. She was motionless,
[14:27] Speaker 2: blood soaking her clothes, while Adrian raised his hands and
[14:31] Speaker 2: pleaded it silently with his grandson. Scott looked at his grandfather,
[14:37] Speaker 2: then glanced at the bodies of his sister and Mary,
[14:40] Speaker 2: and without a word, he walked away. Raffella, who was
[14:45] Speaker 2: still on the phone with nine one one, whispered the
[14:47] Speaker 2: family's address, her voice shaking outside. Stephen Junior had run
[14:53] Speaker 2: down the block, also calling nine one one. He had
[14:57] Speaker 2: witnessed his younger brother calmly walked on stairs and opened
[15:01] Speaker 2: fire into the kitchen. With desperation in his voice, he
[15:05] Speaker 2: told the operator, he's still shooting my family right now.
[15:09] Speaker 2: He's still up there. His name is Scott, Scott Kalogi.
[15:24] Speaker 2: The nine one one operators quickly dispatched detectives and officers
[15:27] Speaker 2: to the Kologi home, racing against the clock to reach
[15:31] Speaker 2: the scene of the deadly shooting. Officer Charles Wells was
[15:36] Speaker 2: among the first to arrive, his weapon drawn as he
[15:38] Speaker 2: cautiously entered the home. Blood trailed up the stairs leading
[15:43] Speaker 2: to a grim sight. Stephen's body crumbled awkwardly on the staircase, motionless.
[15:51] Speaker 2: Further up, Linda ley on the landing just outside Scott's
[15:55] Speaker 2: bedroom door. The home, which had just earlier been filled
[15:59] Speaker 2: with the joy of sne celebration, was now aily silent,
[16:03] Speaker 2: save for the faint sound of police radio's crackling. Officer
[16:07] Speaker 2: Wells and his team entered Scott's bedroom there amidst the chaos,
[16:12] Speaker 2: they found Scott sitting calmly on his bed, petting the
[16:16] Speaker 2: family dog, as though nothing had happened outside. The scene
[16:21] Speaker 2: was a stark contrast to the quiet horror inside. The
[16:26] Speaker 2: media had begun to gather, flanked by worried neighbors who
[16:29] Speaker 2: were still shaken by the night's events. New Year's Eve
[16:33] Speaker 2: had drawn nearly everyone outdoors to enjoy the fireworks, but
[16:37] Speaker 2: now those same fireworks were overshadowed by police sirens and
[16:40] Speaker 2: flashing lights. The celebrations had come to a halt, replaced
[16:46] Speaker 2: by an overwhelming sense of dread. One neighbor, James Roskanowski,
[16:51] Speaker 2: spoke with reporters recounting the scene earlier. He said, I
[16:57] Speaker 2: walked outside at midnight, we heard the commotion and saw
[17:00] Speaker 2: the lights flashing, then saw the police storm the house.
[17:04] Speaker 2: It's a shame the new year has to start off
[17:06] Speaker 2: like this. Scott Kologi was promptly ordered to be held
[17:13] Speaker 2: on four kinds of murder and possession of a weapon.
[17:16] Speaker 2: In his brief court appearance, Prosecutor Christopher Grimisioni addressed the
[17:20] Speaker 2: severity of the crimes. Due to the gravity of the situation,
[17:26] Speaker 2: Scott was expected to be tried as an adult. The
[17:29] Speaker 2: prosecutor also revealed that the weapon used in the attack
[17:32] Speaker 2: was legally owned, a powerful Ak style Century Arms rifle
[17:38] Speaker 2: registered to Scott's brother, Stephen Junior. Stephen Junior had kept
[17:42] Speaker 2: the rifle in his bedroom closet alongside one thousand rounds
[17:46] Speaker 2: of ammunition and two empty fifteen round magazines. His mother, Linda,
[17:52] Speaker 2: had repeatedly asked him to store the weapon in a safe,
[17:55] Speaker 2: but the safe's humidity had caused a gun to rust,
[17:58] Speaker 2: so Stephen Junior insisted in Key bring it in the
[18:00] Speaker 2: closet instead. Prosecutor Grimacioni voiced the tragic reality of the case, staring,
[18:07] Speaker 2: this is a heartbreaking family tragedy. The sad reality is
[18:11] Speaker 2: that we seek justice for the remainding family members of
[18:14] Speaker 2: those that died. Justice is likely going to involve serious
[18:18] Speaker 2: punishment for yet another family member. As the decision on
[18:22] Speaker 2: whether to charge Scott as an adult loomed, those who
[18:25] Speaker 2: knew the Cologi family were left in disbelief. Joreus, a
[18:30] Speaker 2: close family friend, reflected on the tragedy, staring he was
[18:35] Speaker 2: always smiling, not a violent care or anything like that.
[18:40] Speaker 2: Linda's cousin, Walter, expressed his own devastation, Grappling with why
[18:45] Speaker 2: Scott would commit such a horrifying act. He stated, why'd
[18:49] Speaker 2: he do that to my cousin? Why would he kill
[18:52] Speaker 2: his own mother? She was so good to that boy.
[18:56] Speaker 2: He emphasized that although Scott had struggled with learning, he
[18:59] Speaker 2: always seem to know the difference between right and wrong.
[19:03] Speaker 2: What shocked everybody the most was the fact that Scott
[19:06] Speaker 2: had orphaned himself, severing the only source of love and
[19:09] Speaker 2: support he had ever known. Still, beneath the shock, there
[19:14] Speaker 2: were whispers. Some people who knew the family weren't entirely surprised.
[19:21] Speaker 2: There had been signs that something was brewing beneath the surface.
[19:26] Speaker 2: They were all ignored. In October of twenty and seventeen,
[19:35] Speaker 2: just two months before the murders, Scott Kaloogi made a
[19:38] Speaker 2: chilling comment that would later haunt his aunt and uncle.
[19:43] Speaker 2: They were sitting around the table playing a game of Clue,
[19:47] Speaker 2: a gift that his mother had recently purchased him. As
[19:51] Speaker 2: Scott picked up the miniature toy revolver from the game,
[19:54] Speaker 2: he pointed it at his aunt Michelle and casually said,
[19:58] Speaker 2: I'm going to kill you. Then, with the same calmness,
[20:02] Speaker 2: he pointed it at his uncle Rich, adding and kill
[20:06] Speaker 2: you after I come down from upstairs, after taking mom
[20:10] Speaker 2: and dart out. To those who knew Scott, well, this
[20:14] Speaker 2: wasn't just a passing remark. The new year is here
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[21:10] Speaker 2: and start twenty twenty five with his murder stress free storage.
[21:18] Speaker 2: For years, Scott had been harboring dark thoughts, and what
[21:22] Speaker 2: made it even more unsettling was that he had been
[21:25] Speaker 2: frightenedly open about them. He frequently confided in his mother, Linda,
[21:31] Speaker 2: telling her that he was having homicidal thoughts. These weren't
[21:35] Speaker 2: vague musings, the deeply specific imaginings. He had once told
[21:40] Speaker 2: his mother that he fantasized about killing a neighbor who
[21:43] Speaker 2: had bullied him in the past. One day, he even
[21:47] Speaker 2: went as far as to wrap his hand to Rondra
[21:49] Speaker 2: Fellis's throat during a casual moment and chillingly remarked, it
[21:54] Speaker 2: would be so easy to choke you. But Scott had
[21:58] Speaker 2: been painfully aware of his unravel mental state. He had
[22:02] Speaker 2: pleaded with his mother to let him see a therapist
[22:05] Speaker 2: to get help before it was too late, but Linda
[22:09] Speaker 2: had always refused, afraid that her son would be taken
[22:13] Speaker 2: away and locked in a looney bin, as she put it,
[22:17] Speaker 2: she told her son to keep his thoughts to himself. Scott,
[22:21] Speaker 2: who was torn between his desire for help and his
[22:24] Speaker 2: fear of institutionalization, told her that he didn't want to
[22:28] Speaker 2: hurt anybody, but there might come a time when he
[22:30] Speaker 2: wouldn't be able to stop himself. This wasn't a secret
[22:35] Speaker 2: burden that Scott bore alone. He had a confidant, his grandfather,
[22:40] Speaker 2: Adrian God had always seemed to care deeply for his grandfather,
[22:45] Speaker 2: often visiting him daily to help him out around the
[22:47] Speaker 2: house since his grandfather had used a walker. Adrian had
[22:52] Speaker 2: been diagnosed with schizophrenia earlier in life, and he understood
[22:56] Speaker 2: some of the darkness that Scott had described. He tried
[23:00] Speaker 2: to help his grandson, sharing his own experiences with hallucinations
[23:05] Speaker 2: and telling Scott to find ways to distract himself. For
[23:09] Speaker 2: a time, it seemed to work. Scott would immerse himself
[23:13] Speaker 2: in music, read or take long shores to help keep
[23:16] Speaker 2: the thoughts at bay, but they always returned, darker and
[23:20] Speaker 2: more persistent than before. Michele, Scott's aunt, had overheard multiple
[23:24] Speaker 2: conversations between Scott and Linda where he expressed his violent urges.
[23:30] Speaker 2: In one especially harrowing exchange, Scotts told his mother that
[23:34] Speaker 2: he might have to hurt her. Linda tried to comfort him,
[23:39] Speaker 2: telling her son that he would never harm her, but
[23:42] Speaker 2: Scott's response was as cold as it was calculated. He said,
[23:47] Speaker 2: I'd have to, and then Dad would be second, because
[23:50] Speaker 2: he would be sad without mom. Linda pushed further, asking
[23:55] Speaker 2: what Scott would do about his sister, Brittany. Scott's reply
[23:59] Speaker 2: was chilling in his blues. He said he hated Brittany
[24:02] Speaker 2: and she would have to die as well as for
[24:06] Speaker 2: his brother, Stephen Junior, Scott explained that he would need
[24:09] Speaker 2: to kill him as well, reasoning that he couldn't leave
[24:11] Speaker 2: his brother alone without their parents. In one of the
[24:14] Speaker 2: most disturbing conversations, Michelle asked Scott, half joking, if he
[24:19] Speaker 2: would at least spare her and her husband rich Scott's
[24:23] Speaker 2: response was devoid of any humor. He said, no, of course,
[24:28] Speaker 2: I would have to take you out, but I'd let
[24:31] Speaker 2: Richie go home to his family. As the fall of
[24:34] Speaker 2: twenty and seventeen progressed, Scott's comments, became even more violent
[24:38] Speaker 2: and frequent. His dark thoughts seemed to spire a out
[24:42] Speaker 2: of control. One day, he told his family with a
[24:46] Speaker 2: disturbing sense of resignation, I don't want to hurt anyone,
[24:51] Speaker 2: but one day I might.
[24:53] Speaker 3: Just have to.
[24:55] Speaker 2: And that New Year's Eve, Scott finally acted on the
[24:57] Speaker 2: thoughts that had consumed him for so long. The day
[25:12] Speaker 2: after the shooting, Stephen Junior took to Instagram to pay
[25:16] Speaker 2: tribute to his family. He urged his friends to give
[25:19] Speaker 2: the ones they love an extra kiss or tell them
[25:21] Speaker 2: that they love them. He wrote, I just wish I
[25:25] Speaker 2: could tell all of them how much they meant to
[25:27] Speaker 2: me and how much I truly loved each and every
[25:30] Speaker 2: one of them, because I didn't do that enough. The
[25:33] Speaker 2: post continued with Stephen Junior saying that he had the
[25:36] Speaker 2: best parents who provided for their children, even though they
[25:39] Speaker 2: didn't have a lot of money. He wrote, never once
[25:43] Speaker 2: was I without a hot meal or a roof over
[25:45] Speaker 2: my head. They made sure Christmas came every year, although
[25:49] Speaker 2: they struggled financially. I cannot even describe the type of
[25:53] Speaker 2: people they were, so just believe me when I say
[25:56] Speaker 2: how great they were. He described his sister's beautiful and smart,
[26:01] Speaker 2: and wished his followers good luck for twenty to eighteen.
[26:05] Speaker 2: That evening, hundreds of people gathered in the below freezing
[26:07] Speaker 2: temperatures at Franklin Park in memory of the victims. Members
[26:12] Speaker 2: of the Kologi family and the Schultz family came together
[26:15] Speaker 2: and huddled beneath the gazebo as everybody else gathered in
[26:18] Speaker 2: the front. Brittany's friend, Ginia Gillard, described her as very energetic, artsy,
[26:24] Speaker 2: and always smiling. She said that she loved cats, especially
[26:29] Speaker 2: her own cat Jill. She revealed that she last communicated
[26:33] Speaker 2: with Brittany at eleven forty PM, just a few minutes
[26:36] Speaker 2: before she was killed. Brittany had sent her friend a
[26:40] Speaker 2: picture of her lying with her cat about to ring
[26:43] Speaker 2: in the new year. She said to the crowd, I
[26:47] Speaker 2: love her and I'm thankful for everything she helped me through.
[26:50] Speaker 2: It wouldn't be the person I am today without her.
[26:54] Speaker 2: In the aftermath of the murder, Scott Kalogi didn't deny
[26:56] Speaker 2: what he had done. Seated in the entire gaition room
[27:00] Speaker 2: beside his older brother Stephen Junior, who was acting as
[27:04] Speaker 2: his guardian, Scott explained the disturbing events that unfolded on
[27:08] Speaker 2: New Year's Eve. With what happened tonight, it just came
[27:12] Speaker 2: out of nowhere, Scott told the detectives, his voice eily calm.
[27:18] Speaker 2: I was like questioning it, but I just couldn't stop,
[27:21] Speaker 2: he said. Scott recounted that after watching Kong Skull Island
[27:26] Speaker 2: with his family, he had retreated to the bedroom. It
[27:31] Speaker 2: was there that the dark thoughts he had battled for
[27:33] Speaker 2: years began to resurface. He thought back to what he
[27:37] Speaker 2: described as bad moments, particularly the bullying he had endured
[27:41] Speaker 2: when he was younger. Overcome by these memories, he said,
[27:45] Speaker 2: he made a grim decision. He picked up his older
[27:49] Speaker 2: brother's assault rifle and loaded both fifteen round magazines meticulously,
[27:54] Speaker 2: one billiard at a time. Scott revealed that he had
[27:57] Speaker 2: learned how to load and operate the weapon by watching
[28:00] Speaker 2: YouTube videos and playing violent video games. Once the rifle
[28:05] Speaker 2: was ready, he donned his leather jacket from a past
[28:07] Speaker 2: Halloween costume where he had dressed as the Terminator, and
[28:11] Speaker 2: placed air plugs in his ears. He turned off the
[28:15] Speaker 2: lights in the bedroom. Fully aware of what was coming next,
[28:20] Speaker 2: Scott knew that his mother, Linda would come and check
[28:22] Speaker 2: on him before midnight, eager to have him join the
[28:25] Speaker 2: family in watching the ball drop on television. When Linda
[28:30] Speaker 2: entered the room, he shot her multiple times in the chest.
[28:33] Speaker 1: Oh, let me remind a little good.
[28:35] Speaker 5: So upstairs, your mum walks in right, opens the door
[28:39] Speaker 5: to the walk in yet.
[28:40] Speaker 1: So the gunners loaded her? Ready? Yes? How many times
[28:43] Speaker 1: did you shoot her? I would say five? Seven times?
[28:47] Speaker 1: Who where'd you shoot her? At report of the body
[28:49] Speaker 1: and like the Torso.
[28:51] Speaker 2: On chess, he knew that his father would immediately rush
[28:54] Speaker 2: up the stairs at the sound of gunfire, and Stephen
[28:58] Speaker 2: Senior did just that. Scott shot his father in the
[29:01] Speaker 2: back and tore so, sending him tumbling down the stairs.
[29:06] Speaker 1: Alrighty, and then your father hears the shots and he
[29:08] Speaker 1: comes up. Yes, and then it was his back, his back, yeah,
[29:14] Speaker 1: all right?
[29:15] Speaker 5: And then you walk down the steps, yeah, with a
[29:17] Speaker 5: gun loaded, and you go in the kitchen.
[29:19] Speaker 1: Yeah, and then wroth how many times did you shoot
[29:24] Speaker 1: your sister? Three times? Would you shoot her? It?
[29:29] Speaker 5: Well, she was sitting down, so it was like kind
[29:31] Speaker 5: of like chust Henry.
[29:34] Speaker 2: From there, Scott moved downstairs into the kitchen. He saw
[29:38] Speaker 2: his sister Brittany and Mary in the kitchen. He aimed
[29:42] Speaker 2: the rival at Mary, first shooting her in the chest,
[29:45] Speaker 2: then turned to Brittany and fired three rounds into her head.
[29:50] Speaker 2: The scene was gruesome, but Scott only stopped shooting when
[29:54] Speaker 2: he saw the anguish on his grandfather Adrian's face. Adrian
[29:59] Speaker 2: createled Mary, He's body is? She bled out. It was
[30:03] Speaker 2: at this moment that Scott, as he put it, snapped
[30:07] Speaker 2: back to reality. He described the sensation of carrying out
[30:11] Speaker 2: the murders as feeling otherworldly. He told the detectives that
[30:16] Speaker 2: it was as though he wasn't physically present.
[30:19] Speaker 1: I know they're all well deceased.
[30:24] Speaker 6: I like I would like, I said, like, even though
[30:28] Speaker 6: like I felt like I wasn't doing this physically, I
[30:30] Speaker 6: was still able to see everything and I would like
[30:32] Speaker 6: see him moving and like I just kept firing until
[30:35] Speaker 6: like they stopped moving, and like I aim at the
[30:37] Speaker 6: head and.
[30:38] Speaker 1: One night, so you're at their heads, yeah, when I
[30:41] Speaker 1: saw they're still moving.
[30:43] Speaker 5: Because like even though I was like in this like
[30:46] Speaker 5: type of thing, like I just don't want to be
[30:49] Speaker 5: in pain.
[30:49] Speaker 2: At the same time, Scot your little remorse, acknowledging that
[30:53] Speaker 2: he knew what he had done was wrong, He admitted
[30:56] Speaker 2: that he should feel sad or guilty, but confessed, I
[31:00] Speaker 2: just don't feel a thing. It's just like another day
[31:03] Speaker 2: for me. His detachment from the reality of the murders
[31:07] Speaker 2: had left the detectives unnerved.
[31:09] Speaker 3: When you were loading the bags and when you were doing.
[31:11] Speaker 5: This there, well was that questioning it, but I just
[31:13] Speaker 5: like could stop, like it was like something subconsciously, like.
[31:17] Speaker 1: I had to do it. Did you feel anger certain moments? Yeah? OK, yeah, interesting.
[31:29] Speaker 6: You said something before and I want to make sure
[31:32] Speaker 6: I remember it correctly To ask you about it.
[31:37] Speaker 1: You said something.
[31:39] Speaker 3: About you weren't really mentally there.
[31:42] Speaker 5: You know, like when everything was going down, like everything
[31:45] Speaker 5: was happening, like it felt like I was watching it,
[31:49] Speaker 5: Like it felt like I was like.
[31:49] Speaker 1: Further back in my mind. I felt I could still
[31:53] Speaker 1: see it, and I knew I was doing it. It just
[31:55] Speaker 1: felt like it wasn't me.
[31:57] Speaker 2: When prassed aboud a state of mind at the time,
[32:00] Speaker 2: Scott was candid about the thoughts that it plagued him.
[32:04] Speaker 2: He explained, it's not that I have a personal vendetta
[32:08] Speaker 2: against anyone, but just random stuff would pop up in
[32:11] Speaker 2: my head, and sometimes it would be more frequent than
[32:14] Speaker 2: others and other times I'd be fine for a while, okay, but.
[32:19] Speaker 1: Yeah you knew what you were doing. Yeah, you know
[32:22] Speaker 1: what time's happened that right? You remember the time?
[32:24] Speaker 5: It was around twelve because it was like before Yeah,
[32:29] Speaker 5: you're right, So it was a round what loan thirty twelve?
[32:33] Speaker 1: Or rather I would say, I lovean fifty fifty nine?
[32:36] Speaker 1: Did you do that on purpose? What I was thinking
[32:40] Speaker 1: like around yeah, yeah.
[32:45] Speaker 7: What's on?
[32:45] Speaker 1: Did you think of donuts?
[32:48] Speaker 4: Uh?
[32:48] Speaker 1: Did you?
[32:50] Speaker 5: I don't know, but mainly the day, like I just
[32:54] Speaker 5: saw like was it what you think about it all
[32:56] Speaker 5: day today?
[32:57] Speaker 1: Yeah? That's very mush.
[32:59] Speaker 5: So you're were thinking about going to get your brother's
[33:01] Speaker 5: gun and shoot everybody up.
[33:04] Speaker 2: Scott was charged with four counts of first degree murder
[33:06] Speaker 2: as a juvenile, but the prosecution said they were wanting
[33:09] Speaker 2: to have him charged as an adult. That decision was
[33:12] Speaker 2: up to the judge, but Scott appeared in court on
[33:15] Speaker 2: the fourth of January, where he was told he would
[33:18] Speaker 2: remain in custody. Three days later, Mary was laid to rest.
[33:25] Speaker 2: Around two hundred mourners filled Saint Jerome Roman Catholic Church
[33:28] Speaker 2: to bid her one final farewell. The following day, Steven,
[33:33] Speaker 2: Linda and Brittany were laid to rest as well. Their
[33:37] Speaker 2: joint funeral was in the same church where Mary had
[33:39] Speaker 2: been eulogized just twenty four hours earlier. During the service,
[33:45] Speaker 2: Reverend Michael Butler said that the family were good in
[33:48] Speaker 2: every category that counts. He drew off in the mourners
[33:52] Speaker 2: as he said about Stephen a good husband, good provider,
[33:56] Speaker 2: good friend, a big guy, athletic guy, hardworking and a
[34:01] Speaker 2: Yankee fan, maybe his only shortcoming. He remembered Linda as
[34:06] Speaker 2: a devoted mother whose whole life was dedicated to her children.
[34:10] Speaker 2: As for Brittany, he said that she was a hard worker,
[34:13] Speaker 2: just like her parents. As the caskets were carried from
[34:17] Speaker 2: the church, Stephen Junior followed. He was carrying a picture
[34:22] Speaker 2: of his father. Linda's oldest son, Jonathan, clutched tightly to
[34:27] Speaker 2: a photograph of her. There were no public developments in
[34:31] Speaker 2: the case until November of twenty nineteen. There had been
[34:36] Speaker 2: a gag order on the case, but on the fifteenth
[34:38] Speaker 2: that was announced that Scott was facing his charges in
[34:40] Speaker 2: adult court. His attorney, Richard Lemurou, shared his displeasure, steering
[34:48] Speaker 2: we had extensive expert reports admitted to the court to
[34:50] Speaker 2: support our position that this should have staid in the
[34:53] Speaker 2: juvenile division. However, now that it's an adult case, we
[34:57] Speaker 2: will be prepared to investigate and represents Scott to the
[35:00] Speaker 2: full extent. His defense attorney subsequently tried to have him
[35:04] Speaker 2: sent to a secure psychiatric facility pending trial. He said
[35:09] Speaker 2: that Scott had only been formally diagnosed as being autistic
[35:13] Speaker 2: and having hallucinations when a quarter pointed doctor evaluated him
[35:17] Speaker 2: in the past six months. That doctor, doctor Daniel Greenfield,
[35:22] Speaker 2: recommended that Scott undergo a brain m RI scan, but
[35:26] Speaker 2: that couldn't be done in jail. The defense argued, my
[35:30] Speaker 2: client has been in juvenile attention for two years with
[35:33] Speaker 2: zero treatment. He's not going to go free. He's not
[35:36] Speaker 2: going to be walking down the street. However, Prosecutor Barbara
[35:40] Speaker 2: Suppe argued back and said that Scott should remain incarcerated.
[35:46] Speaker 2: She said that he had methodically planned the murders and
[35:48] Speaker 2: had reported violent thoughts and urges. She stated Scott acted
[35:54] Speaker 2: in a calculated, premeditated, and a very sophisticated manner in
[35:58] Speaker 2: the commission of these crimes. Judge Joseph Oxley ultimately refused
[36:03] Speaker 2: the request for Scott to be released, stating release is
[36:07] Speaker 2: not recommended because of the risk and potential danger he
[36:10] Speaker 2: would post to the community. Then in January, Scott returned
[36:14] Speaker 2: to court where he pleaded not guilty to all of
[36:17] Speaker 2: the charges against him, setting the stage for the upcoming
[36:20] Speaker 2: murder trial. The question of who exactly had committed the
[36:24] Speaker 2: murders wasn't going to be the focus of the trial.
[36:28] Speaker 2: It wasn't to who done it, Scott had confessed. Instead,
[36:32] Speaker 2: the crux of the case was going to hinge on
[36:34] Speaker 2: whether Scott could understand what he had done and whether
[36:37] Speaker 2: he understood that it was wrong. Both the defense and
[36:42] Speaker 2: the prosecution had hired experts to analyze Scott, and they
[36:45] Speaker 2: had both reached varying conclusions on his frame of mind.
[36:50] Speaker 2: In the receding four years, Scott had received less and
[36:52] Speaker 2: less visits in jail from his surviving family members. His brother,
[36:57] Speaker 2: Stephen Junior had tried to keep a connection, but that
[37:00] Speaker 2: got more difficult as time passed. He said in the media.
[37:05] Speaker 2: It was actually easier in the beginning because of the
[37:08] Speaker 2: shock of it all, and we're still family. It wasn't
[37:11] Speaker 2: till later that I kind of grew some animosity but
[37:14] Speaker 2: we're still going with helping him overall. Stephen Junior also
[37:19] Speaker 2: shared that the family wanted Scott to get help, not punishment,
[37:23] Speaker 2: because that's what their mother would have wanted. While Scott
[37:27] Speaker 2: had been the closest with his grandfather Adrian, he hadn't
[37:31] Speaker 2: visited him once. Scott told the councilor in February of
[37:35] Speaker 2: twenty and eighteen that his grandfather didn't want to see him.
[37:43] Speaker 2: The murder trial finally began on the ninth of February
[37:46] Speaker 2: twenty twenty two. During the opening statements, defense attorney Amika
[37:52] Speaker 2: Nukwo described Scott as a mentally ill child who never
[37:55] Speaker 2: got the treatment he needed. He said that at the
[37:58] Speaker 2: time of the murders, Scot had autism and undiagnosed schizophrenia
[38:02] Speaker 2: that was rapidly getting worse. Prosecutor Caitlin Sidley maintained during
[38:08] Speaker 2: her arguments that Scott knew what he was doing when
[38:11] Speaker 2: he loaded fifteen bullets each into two magazines and then
[38:14] Speaker 2: placed them in the rifle. On the first day of
[38:18] Speaker 2: the trial, survivors of the shooting testified about what had happened.
[38:23] Speaker 2: Stephen Junior testified that his family was close knit. He
[38:27] Speaker 2: said his mother had doated on Scott, and his father
[38:29] Speaker 2: had just started a new job as a truck driver.
[38:33] Speaker 2: He spoke about his relationship with his younger brother, recalling
[38:37] Speaker 2: how he often let him win basketball matches and awarded
[38:40] Speaker 2: him with trophies just to make him feel better. He
[38:43] Speaker 2: spoke about the moment the gunfire erupted in the home.
[38:47] Speaker 7: I started running, but besides me was my dad, and
[38:53] Speaker 7: we were running side by side. Actually, but I went
[38:55] Speaker 7: to the front door and he went upstairs swear. I say, so,
[39:03] Speaker 7: when your dad run upstairs?
[39:05] Speaker 1: What happened?
[39:07] Speaker 7: I hear more shots? So I stay at the front door,
[39:19] Speaker 7: and I'm at the front door and I'm looking in.
[39:24] Speaker 7: I have actually see stop coming downstairs?
[39:28] Speaker 4: When you see punning downstairs? How was you? Why?
[39:33] Speaker 7: Casually?
[39:34] Speaker 3: Cashion? Okay?
[39:37] Speaker 6: What does he wearing?
[39:39] Speaker 7: He was wearing his Halloween costa offering the prior Halloween.
[39:45] Speaker 2: Under cross examination by defense attorney Richard Lemurru, Stephen Junior
[39:50] Speaker 2: acknowledged that he hugged Scott and told him he loved
[39:53] Speaker 2: him and that his parents loved him. Just two hours
[39:56] Speaker 2: after the murders, then does all the sun? Jonathan also
[40:01] Speaker 2: spoke about Scott. He said that he still slept in
[40:04] Speaker 2: bed with his mother and father and still believed in
[40:07] Speaker 2: Santa Claus. When he was asked how he knew that,
[40:11] Speaker 2: he responded because I would help hide presents in the
[40:14] Speaker 2: attic so that he would believe that Santa bought them,
[40:17] Speaker 2: and the presents were tagged Santa. Jonathan had been at
[40:20] Speaker 2: the family's home on New Year's Eve, but he had
[40:22] Speaker 2: left before the shooting. He said to the courtroom that
[40:26] Speaker 2: Scott appeared to be happy during the day. Testimony was
[40:30] Speaker 2: then presented from family about Scott's dark thoughts, with his
[40:34] Speaker 2: aunt Michelle telling the jury how he wanted to speak
[40:37] Speaker 2: with this therapist about wanting to kill the family. She
[40:41] Speaker 2: said that Linda forbade him from speaking about his thoughts
[40:44] Speaker 2: or feelings, and even forbade Michelle from telling anybody the
[40:48] Speaker 2: kind of things that Scott had said. She testified, Linda
[40:54] Speaker 2: told me, you never know what will happen if you
[40:56] Speaker 2: say anything. Not only will you be put out, but
[41:00] Speaker 2: you will never see my kids again. Michelle was the
[41:03] Speaker 2: only family member that still visited Scott in jail, and
[41:06] Speaker 2: she said she often asked him why he did what
[41:08] Speaker 2: he did. He told her that she would need to
[41:11] Speaker 2: wait and read it in his book. He said he
[41:15] Speaker 2: wanted to name his book Scott Free because when he
[41:18] Speaker 2: gets away with it, he would be Scott Free. The
[41:22] Speaker 2: jury then got to watch Scott's confession following, with the
[41:26] Speaker 2: detective Andrea Tozzy testifying. She said that Scott told her
[41:31] Speaker 2: and detective Ddio that he had been experiencing hallucinations since
[41:36] Speaker 2: he was seven or eight. However, he told her that
[41:39] Speaker 2: he wasn't hearing voices on the day of the murders.
[41:42] Speaker 2: She said he knew who he was shooting. He referred
[41:46] Speaker 2: to them as his mother, his father, his grandmother Mary,
[41:49] Speaker 2: and his sister Brittany. Furthermore, Scott had told the detectives
[41:54] Speaker 2: that he had researched how to use the AK forty
[41:57] Speaker 2: seven earlier in the week. He also explained that he
[42:01] Speaker 2: turned the lights off before he shot his mother because
[42:04] Speaker 2: he didn't want her to see what he was about
[42:05] Speaker 2: to do, Otherwise he would have snapped out of it.
[42:10] Speaker 2: The defense attorney asked her what Scott said when she
[42:12] Speaker 2: asked him if he didn't want to be snapped out
[42:14] Speaker 2: of it. She quoted Scott as saying, I don't know.
[42:19] Speaker 2: I guess I was all over the place but at
[42:21] Speaker 2: that point I was kind of gone mentally. She further
[42:26] Speaker 2: testified that Scott told them that he had told his
[42:28] Speaker 2: grandfather and mother about his hallucinations, but neither of them
[42:32] Speaker 2: reached out to a psychiatrist. After Scott had been arrested,
[42:36] Speaker 2: he spoke with doctor Maureene Santina, and she told the
[42:40] Speaker 2: courtroom about the hallucinations he reportedly had. She said he
[42:45] Speaker 2: told her one day he was lying in bed and
[42:47] Speaker 2: saw a woman laying there that appeared to be human. However,
[42:51] Speaker 2: her eyes then turned red, and she developed long, sharp
[42:54] Speaker 2: teeth and turned black, as if she had been burned.
[42:58] Speaker 2: Doctor Santina testified he told her that on the morning
[43:01] Speaker 2: of the shootings, something was wrong from the moment he
[43:04] Speaker 2: woke up. He said that while he was showering that morning,
[43:08] Speaker 2: he heard a voice say, welcome to the side of evil.
[43:13] Speaker 2: Doctor Santina believed that Scott was displaying an increasing indication
[43:17] Speaker 2: of mental illness over several months. It was her belief
[43:22] Speaker 2: that on the day of the shootings it was reaching ahead.
[43:26] Speaker 2: She didn't believe that he was lingering or fabricating his hallucinations,
[43:30] Speaker 2: and diagnosed him with early onset schizophrenia. The psychologist said
[43:35] Speaker 2: that Scott didn't know the wrongfulness of his actions. However,
[43:39] Speaker 2: she did tell the chord that about a month before
[43:41] Speaker 2: the murders he had researched the difference between serial killers
[43:45] Speaker 2: and mass murderers. She said his takeaway from it was
[43:49] Speaker 2: that they both had high IQs. The prosecution sought to
[43:53] Speaker 2: cast out on the insanity defense, with Prosecutor Brennan playing
[43:57] Speaker 2: portions of Scott's confession. In it, he said that he
[44:01] Speaker 2: was nervous as he loaded the gun. When he was
[44:04] Speaker 2: asked why he was nervous, he responded, I'm going to
[44:08] Speaker 2: be in trouble. The detective then asked, so you knew
[44:12] Speaker 2: it was wrong. Scott responded, yeah, yeah. The prosecution then
[44:19] Speaker 2: called on doctor park Dates, a nationally renowned forensic psychiatrist
[44:23] Speaker 2: most known for testifying as a prosecution witness during the
[44:27] Speaker 2: trial of Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers. His rate
[44:31] Speaker 2: was twelve hundred dollars an hour, but government cases had
[44:34] Speaker 2: a discounted rate of eight hundred dollars an hour because
[44:37] Speaker 2: it involved the public's money. He had interviewed Scott at
[44:41] Speaker 2: length and told the courtroom how Scott had been thinking
[44:43] Speaker 2: about killing his family for some time. However, he said
[44:47] Speaker 2: it was only after he was arrested that he spoke
[44:50] Speaker 2: about hearing evil voices. He had told detectives during his
[44:55] Speaker 2: interrogation he had heard voices as a child, but never
[44:58] Speaker 2: mentioned hearing voices on the day of the murder until
[45:01] Speaker 2: much later. Furthermore, he had never mentioned previously that he
[45:05] Speaker 2: thought his family were out to get him. Those comments
[45:09] Speaker 2: only came after he was charged with the murders. He testified,
[45:14] Speaker 2: it's important to him to be able to live with
[45:16] Speaker 2: what he's done, and if he can blame it on
[45:18] Speaker 2: mental illness, that's easier on him than taking responsibility for it.
[45:24] Speaker 2: Doctor Deets said he didn't believe that Scott suffered from
[45:26] Speaker 2: schizophrenia like the defense expert had suggested. Instead, he said
[45:32] Speaker 2: he was on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum. However,
[45:36] Speaker 2: he acknowledged that on the day of the shootings he
[45:39] Speaker 2: entered a kind of disassociative state of depersonalization. He said
[45:45] Speaker 2: to the courtroom, I reached the opinion that at the
[45:48] Speaker 2: time the defendant was preparing for these events, the time
[45:51] Speaker 2: leading up to these events, the defendant was capable of
[45:54] Speaker 2: deliberating he believed that Scott noon appreciated the nature and
[45:58] Speaker 2: quality of his actions. In short, he knew what he
[46:03] Speaker 2: was doing and he knew that it was wrong. After that,
[46:07] Speaker 2: the defense had Scott stand up in court.
[46:09] Speaker 1: This is stock flogy. Okay, He's a lot of people
[46:13] Speaker 1: throughout his crowd talk about them as if he's not here.
[46:15] Speaker 1: He's here. This is Scott, This is dark and brother.
[46:21] Speaker 1: This is Stephen's brother. This is Michelle's nap here, this
[46:25] Speaker 1: is Writchy step here, this is Grandma Canadas bringstig. This
[46:29] Speaker 1: is Scott Koloch and he was born with a mental illness.
[46:34] Speaker 2: Than defense attorney the Morrow said during his closing arguments,
[46:39] Speaker 2: we're not debating that this happened. It did happen. Scott
[46:43] Speaker 2: shot his family. However, he said that the tragedy was
[46:47] Speaker 2: not born from wickedness, but instead sickness. He spoke about
[46:51] Speaker 2: the voice is that Scott allegedly heard telling the jury
[46:55] Speaker 2: he couldn't stop them. Scott tried to ignore them, but
[46:58] Speaker 2: he couldn't. Prosecutor Brennan, during his closing argument, said that
[47:03] Speaker 2: their focus was on the facts of the case. He stated,
[47:08] Speaker 2: those facts tell you time and time again that this
[47:10] Speaker 2: defendant knew exactly what he was doing. He was aware
[47:14] Speaker 2: of what he was doing. He was responsible for the
[47:17] Speaker 2: choices he made. He said that Scott had threatened to
[47:20] Speaker 2: do exactly what he did and that showed intent. He
[47:25] Speaker 2: also touched on the premeditated nature, reminding the jury that
[47:28] Speaker 2: Scott admitted he had watched videos on how to load
[47:31] Speaker 2: the weapon and use it. After just one hour of deliberation,
[47:36] Speaker 2: the jury returned to the courtroom with a verdict. Scott
[47:39] Speaker 2: Kelogi was found guilty on all charges, including four counts
[47:43] Speaker 2: of murder, rejecting his insanity defense. The swift decision came
[47:49] Speaker 2: as a heavy blow to Scott's defense, which had argued
[47:52] Speaker 2: that his mental health struggles should be considered in the
[47:54] Speaker 2: case outside of court. Scott's defense attorney al the muru
[48:00] Speaker 2: iimented on the broader implications of the case. He said,
[48:05] Speaker 2: this is a case that needed to be tried. A
[48:07] Speaker 2: jury needed to make this case a lesson about mental health,
[48:10] Speaker 2: gun safety, and open minds, making sure people get mental
[48:14] Speaker 2: health treatment before this happens. The sentencing phase of the
[48:18] Speaker 2: trial began on During the thirtieth Judge Mark Lemoe addressed
[48:23] Speaker 2: Scott directly, stating that the evidence against him was overwhelming.
[48:29] Speaker 2: With the weight of the case resting heavily on the courtroom,
[48:32] Speaker 2: the judge delivered a sentence of one hundred and fifty
[48:35] Speaker 2: years in prison. He mandated that Scott must serve at
[48:39] Speaker 2: least eighty five percent of that time before he was
[48:42] Speaker 2: eligible for parole. Effectively, Scott Cologi would spend the rest
[48:48] Speaker 2: of his life in prison. Prosecutor Sean Brannan spoke bluntly
[48:53] Speaker 2: during the proceedings, summing up the gravity of Scott's actions, said,
[49:01] Speaker 2: these were acts of evil carried out by someone who
[49:04] Speaker 2: knew exactly what he was doing. He killed them because
[49:08] Speaker 2: he could, He killed them because he wanted to. Well,
[49:30] Speaker 2: Bestie's That is it for this episode of Morbidology. As always,
[49:33] Speaker 2: thank you so much for listening, and i'd like to
[49:35] Speaker 2: say a massive thank you to my new supporter up
[49:37] Speaker 2: on Patreon, Lauren. The link to Patreon is in the
[49:41] Speaker 2: show notes. If you'd like to join, I upload ardfree
[49:45] Speaker 2: in early release episodes behind the scenes, and I also
[49:47] Speaker 2: send out merch and handwritten thank you card. I also
[49:51] Speaker 2: do bonus episodes of Morbidology plus, but I'll admit I'm
[49:55] Speaker 2: a little bit behind on those with the pregnancy, I
[49:58] Speaker 2: spent pretty much all of my time. I'm getting ahead
[50:00] Speaker 2: with the free show, but once I'm settled and into
[50:03] Speaker 2: a proper routine again, I'll be back making more bonus episodes.
[50:07] Speaker 2: So thank you for your patience. I hope that everybody
[50:11] Speaker 2: had a great holiday and got some time off work
[50:13] Speaker 2: or school and got to spend some time with your
[50:15] Speaker 2: loved ones. And I also hope that everybody has an
[50:18] Speaker 2: amazing new year. Remember to check us out at morbidology
[50:22] Speaker 2: dot com for more information about this episode and to
[50:25] Speaker 2: read some true crime articles. Until next time, take care
[50:29] Speaker 2: of yourselves, stay safe, and have an amazing week.

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