Sandy Hook /// Part 1 /// Episode: 79 | Forensic Files

[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever
you are, whatever you are doing, thanks for listening. I'm your host, Nick, and with me is a man that recently blew a
20point lead in his pingpong match. He is here, ladies and gentlemen, to remind us that second place is the first loser.
He is the captain. >> All I know is I got five rings now. Where's your rings, Cleveland?
>> What happened to you, Captain? That that ping pong match, you really fell apart
there. >> Yeah, I have bad knees. Today we are drinking Fuzzy Baby Ducks IPA by New England Brewing Company.
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Captain. I am Well, I was El Gordo. >> Uh, you should use that name for the show.
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your channel. That's enough of the business. Everybody gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer, and let's talk
some true crime. [Music] [Music] The worst grade school shooting in US history. At least 27 dead, 20 children,
seven adults, including the principal. And the gunman killed himself. and all over this town in churches like the
United Methodist Church behind us. Well, the lights are on and they are still open for prayer tonight.
>> They will be all night. People have been gathering here for prayer, to lean on
each other and lean on a belief in something bigger than themselves, to help get through what is just impossible
to believe here or anywhere else. The sentiment here echoed in what you're seeing now down by the Washington
Monument in DC. Uh many members of the Connecticut delegation was there. But this story is really about their home
here, New Town, Connecticut. Just 27,000 people. This is a place where people know each other. Families know each
other. And what happened today is known by all. And it's not just about how many
were lost. It's about the age. What is hitting everyone so hard is the reality of these being children that were
targeted by a madman. We now know his name. We know he's 20 years old, Adam Lanza. We know that before he came to
this school, he shot his own mother, Nancy, in the face, killing her at her home. The looming question is why this
man then decided to come to this school. He shows up at a place where they're making gingerbread houses in preparation
for the holidays and Christmas presents. Just kids, a man in black enters with a
vest and multiple weapons and begins a massacre. [Music] Coline was not the first school shooting
in history, but if you ask people my age, that's the first school massacre that we remember. And you hate to force
yourself to rank these tragedies, but Sandy Hook certainly is one of the worst. These stories are becoming a
common occurrence. We won't say it out loud, but we are becoming a little numb to these horrible events.
>> Mhm. >> We used to kiss our kids and send them off hoping that they would learn
something and make us proud. But these days, we kiss our kids and we hope that they come back. Once we shake off the
shock and try to comprehend these tragic stories, we must know why. We seek out to answer every question one can think
of. But even after we have done so, we are still confused. We have we have to blame someone. That part is easy as
usually the guilty party is found close to his victims with a bullet in his head. But that's just not enough. That's
not good enough because kids are not supposed to die. Parents are not supposed to bury their children. And
children and young adults are supposed to have too many exciting things to look forward to in their lives to ever think
or consider of carrying out these plans that end lives, ruin families, destroy communities, and break the hearts of a
nation. Why do these things happen? Is the problem our gun control laws? Is the problem mindaltering pharmaceuticals
that treat our troubled youth? Or is it the bullies? We simply may never know. But we're not going to stop asking why
and we're not going to stop looking into these events to try to prevent them from
happening again. >> Yeah. I believe most people our age or maybe a little younger uh the the times
of high school or middle school or elementary school being in a place of safety, a place of education, a place of
where you had so many first experiences. Maybe your first best friend, your first
girlfriend, your first kiss. who knows what it was. Schools were a place of safety, a place that you would reminisce
on once you left school, you know, the the glory days. And now schools, when you see a school flash on the news
screen, you don't think, oh, something positive, you immediately assume, oh no, another school shooting happened again.
And with Sandy Hook, it's more heinous because the victims were of age six and seven.
>> Yeah. And the the hard thing here, Captain, was, you know, when we met in the garage last week and we left saying,
"Okay, next week is Sandy Hook, we're very quickly thrown into the mix when we dive into these cases." And this one
especially where where we're, you know, it's so difficult to to research because
of the tragic events. It's so difficult to report on this because it's such it's
such a horrible crime that happened. The key thing here though is that at the end
of the day, this story is about not about the monster that carried out this crime, but about the this story is about
the school of Sandy Hook and its wonderful teachers and students. By examining in a case like this, we might
be able to see what some of the causes were and that might be able to put us on higher alert so we could prevent a
tragedy like this happening again in another school, in your town. But it also is a reminder that life is short
and life is precious and while we're here on earth that maybe we should have more respect for each other and more
love for each other. Sandy Hook Elementary School is in the town of New Town, Connecticut. New Town is part of
the Danberry metropolitan area and the New York metropolitan area. One person that everyone probably knows is Caitlyn
Jenner, who of course back then would have gone by the name of Bruce, attending New Town High School. The
population of New Town is about 27 28,000 people. So, this is not a big town. This is more of what I would call
a sleepy town. This is an extremely safe community. Very, very low crime rate. >> It's like a modern Mayberry.
>> Two of the residents in this community in 2012 are Adam Lanza and his mother Nancy. Now, let's go back here a little
bit. We have Adam Lanza was the second of two children of Peter and Nancy Lanza. Their first son is Ryan Lanza,
who is four years older than Adam. The Lanza family moved to New Town when Adam was only 6 years old back in 1992. This
is when Peter became the VP of finance for General Electric, which is one of the more prestigious companies in the
New Town area. Peter is described as a workaholic, often getting into work very early in the day and then staying until
10 p.m. or even later. Nancy took care of the kids. Nancy grew up on a farm in New Hampshire and from a young age,
hunting was a hobby of hers. She would often go hunting with her older brothers. Uh she did work for John
Hancock before she decided to stay home with her two boys. If you watch the documentary New Town, you'll notice that
these are largeriz houses, normally like two to fourc car garages, and their lots
are bigger. So, the average lot, I would say, and I'm not I don't know the whole
area, but I'd say there's a lot of lots in this area that they're small communities, but they have about 2 acres
per lot. >> Yeah. Quite a bit of space between the homes there. Um, at a very young age,
Adam seems different. Um, and this is noticeable by his parents and his loved ones. When he is five years old, he is
diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, which is a form of autism with a significant difficulties in the realm of social
interaction. Uh, shortly after that, he is diagnosed with sensory processing disorder. This affects the body's
sensory signals. The SPD center describes this as signals that are not organized into appropriate responses,
creating a neurological traffic jam that prevents certain parts of the brain from
receiving information needed to correctly integrate sensorary data. Adam displays all of the common symptoms of
this of this SPD. uh avoiding groups of people and kids, recoiling from touch, flinching at sudden movements, seeking
seclusion, and he also prefers to be in the dark. Adam definitely seemed a little different, and with his asberers,
obviously, we we know why some of those things would make him seem different, but it didn't seem like he was that
interested into fitting into any group. >> No, he never seemed to speak much or to
try to make friends. He just never seemed interested in making friends or relationships with other people his age.
Um, at home, he also didn't seem to want to have much of a relationship with anyone in the lands of home other than
his mother. Nancy was very much a helicopter mom when it came to Adam. Nancy and Adam built a bond through
target shooting. This starts when Adam is very young. Uh, he shoots his first gun when he's four years old. Nancy
encouraged their shared hobby for target shooting and an interest in firearms. This was really the only outdoor
activity that Adam seems to enjoy. Because of Adam's disorders, Nancy was overly concerned that Adam would become
the target of bullies. Adam's peers would often describe Adam as picked on occasionally, but really, for the most
part, Adam was really, he really wasn't bullied. He was just kind of ignored. With Adam's SPD, his anxiety grew a lot
more at home. He would have these temper tantrums which would grow with age. And
so every time he'd have these temper tantrums, it would like he become more violent.
>> And the number of these fits as well, they increased. >> Yeah. And this was getting worse for
Adam in his middle school years. >> Yeah. And it's around this time that one of his middle school teachers would
discover some of Adam's drawings. Now, these are images depicting people in various states of death. At home, Nancy
is finding similar drawings of Adams, as well as printouts showing scenes of death and violence that he had found on
the internet. Uh Nancy does seek help from a professional regarding these images that she's finding and concern
about Adam's well-being and maybe where his head's at, >> but she does not feel that Adam's needs
were being met by that professional. And this would be difficult for any parent to deal with with a typical kid. But in
Adam's case, his his communication skills are not the best. >> Regardless, this is a difficult thing to
to experience and to deal with because your your son is roughly, let's say, 14 at the time.
>> And you know, I can remember being a kid and I'm not going to pretend that to be
some kind of expert parent, nor do I fully understand this disorder uh or either of these disorders that he has.
But, you know, when you're a young teenager, you know, especially for me, you're listening to Metallica and things
like that, and you doodle at school while you're trying to pass time, and skulls creep their way onto uh, you
know, my my notebooks in my journals and things like that. Now, did I have any fantasies about going out and and
collecting skulls or or or, you know, creating havoc or death? Well, a side note, we once were called to the
principal's office because we had a band in high school and uh our buddies made a
poster and they called us into the principal's office cuz they thought that the drawings were satanic. Now, we
didn't make those drawings, but we didn't disapprove of those drawings either. Were we satanic kids? No, we
were not. We just happened to be in a band and we just, you know, whatever. We thought it was creative. Well, and of
course it raised a red flag for the the principal or vice principal or whoever called us down there and then then they
notify parents and then parents have to to be concerned because here's the issue
too, you know, and I understand Adam, you know, they found these drawings at school as well as at home.
>> Uh, which makes it, you know, that more troubling. But in our situation, it was
I think my parents kind of reacted like, well, maybe I should treat this like it's some kind of big deal because the
school thought it was a big deal. They didn't they they saw it and really didn't didn't really didn't get it
either. >> Yeah. I don't think my father ever got why I was in a band. Now in Adam's
situation, it's different. It causes more of a red flag, if you will, because he has lack of social skills and lack of
social life. >> And he just doesn't even talk to anybody. I mean, he doesn't talk to his
family. He doesn't talk to his classmates. He just doesn't talk, period. >> But to her benefit, she seeks
professional help for Adam. >> Yes, she does. and she ultimately ends up removing him from that situation.
It's reported by her friends that her complaint was she was so sick of hearing people tell her that Adam's just going
to grow out of this situation. But but again here that's where I kind of take a bit of problem with the situation
because yeah all these maybe the teachers and the school counselors and this professional that you've sought out
are telling you he will probably grow out of this. If you're feeling that his needs are not being met, maybe stick
with it a little bit longer. >> But what a scary situation to be in as a parent. And maybe she had this gut
intuition that maybe there was something a little more sinister going on with her
child. >> Around this same time, Adam's parents, well, their marriage starts having
problems and Peter and Nancy, they would separate a couple of times before Nancy
would file for divorce in 2008. >> Uh Adam's temper tantrums are getting worse. And this is an example of one.
There's there's actually one day before school. This is when Adam is in 8th grade. Adam is actually taken to the
hospital due to an anxiety attack that he's experiencing. This is primarily because of his SPD. He was afraid of
going to school. And it's not because of the kids, you know, he wasn't afraid of
going to school because he was bullied or because he wasn't performing well in school. No, he was afraid because of
this disorder. He was afraid of like loud noises and the crowded hallways, the slamming doors, the lockers, the
loud kids. All of this was making it much harder for him to go to school or to navigate through the hallways in the
classrooms. >> Yeah. And I have a longtime friend that is an educator and his specialty is
autistic kids or kids with aspberers. And this is a common um symptom is that they really are disturbed u by loud
noises and by a lot of commotion. Well, on this one situation where he's taken to the hospital, Nancy talks to the
doctor and she wants to try to get a note from the doctor stating that Adam should be homeschooled. She wants to
keep him home for the remainder of his eighth grade year so that he can kind of settle in. He can he can focus on
schoolwork and not have to go to this place that's causing him this massive anxiety and a bit of trauma, so to
speak. Mhm. >> Uh she wants to keep him home from 8th grade before he enters high school, but
this does not end up happening. She doesn't get a note from the from the hospital and she doesn't keep him home.
>> Yeah. And in hindsight, you wonder if this would have helped his disorder, helped what he was going through. Um but
I guess we'll never know. >> And it's in 8th grade that we start to see an increase in the troubles with
Adam as well as the disorders that are preventing him from wanting to go to school. Well, now that he's in high
school, you would think that, you know, the kids before weren't so they weren't necessarily mean, but they weren't
really attentive of him. He was just kind of invisible, the invisible kid. >> But I wonder if that that bullying uh or
being picked on ramped up much in high school. >> Well, you're exactly right. He is kind
of the invisible kid. It's we're going to see that same underlining sentence that we had said earlier where he's not
he is picked on occasionally. It's described as picked on occasionally, but no one ever called it bullying.
>> My Right. My only problem with this though is this is coming from all outside sources. Right. And so I had a
really good friend in middle school that actually switched schools going into high school, did not go to our high
school. He was picked on so much that his family, everybody decided, hey, he's going to a different high school. Now, I
knew that because I was one of his best friends, but people around didn't really
understand, well, why is he not going to our high school? And I'm going, well, you didn't understand how bad it was.
Now, the difference between my friend and Adam was my friend talked to his parents, told counselors what was going
on. I wonder if in Adam's case, there was a lot of bullying or being picked on and and some other things going on that
just never were reported. Well, you have you have two arguments here. Um Nancy would Nancy believed that he was being
picked on, that he was bullied, where you have the school children and his peers saying that no, that wasn't the
case. He just he we knew he was different. Uh he didn't fit in. That's that's easy to see. But he never tried
with us. He didn't want to talk to any of us. He didn't want to have a relationship with any of the kids here.
And therefore, I don't think any of the kids made an effort on their end either.
>> Well, Nancy wasn't helping out Adam at all with giving him that Lloyd Christmas
haircut. that it's strange that you say that because there's actually a story by
the the man that cut his hair for years and he described the situation as strange because you know you go to a
barber shop or you go to get your haircut and it's usually a place where the the person cutting your hair is
trying to make small talk with you and usually you make talk back and sometimes it's it sparks up conversations and
whatnot. This was not the situation for Adam or for Nancy. And I and I bring NY's name into this because the man
specifically says that on every time that Adam went to get his hair cut, he was he was with his mother. His mother
would come in and basically tell Adam where to go to sit down. >> Uh Adam would go to the the barber chair
and rather than, you know, the barber says, "I constantly tried to to make jokes or to talk about things that were
going on to spark up conversation with the boy." >> Yeah. try to ease his mind when you put
that metal bowl on his head to give him the haircut. >> And and I think a lot of that too is
that, you know, these barbers usually are are are people people person. >> Yeah. And he probably saw that this
there was some anxiety with this young man. And he was trying to make ease the ease the trip for him. But he said that
Adam would just stare at the tiled floor. And it was it was strange that the boy never really interacted with
anybody at the shop there. It was all of his mom kind of telling him where to go.
Okay, Adam, we're done now. Let's leave. Um, you know, like I said, a bit of that
helicopter mom. >> Again, I think the whole uh hindrance, you know, hindsight of the whole thing
is maybe she was enabling him too much and holding his hand too much and not not enabling him to grow.
>> Mhm. And you worry that that might have been the situation had she been successful taking him out of eighth
grade. maybe sometimes sometimes these fears we have to face them to to overcome them. Um once Adam starts high
school uh they started off by they put together a plan to kind of ease him into the school.
>> Uh this plan was devised by Nancy working with the school and the school's officials. He started off the year in a
private setting and once he got used to the new school, to the high school, he was slowly introduced into the
traditional classes with other kids and he was taking a lot of honors classes. Again,
>> even though he had these disorders, he was not he was not a dumb kid, you know,
he was he was bright and he he excelled at academics. >> And oddly enough, um Adam seems like a
little bit of a cartoon character. >> Yeah. His peers and the school officials would later recall that Adam wore the
same outfit to school every day. He wore baggy khaki pants and the same blue polo
shirt and he carried a briefcase. Uh, >> and I wonder if it's not the actual same
polo or if it was just like we have multiple of the same outfit, but maybe Adam didn't really give a [ __ ] So then
his parents were like, you know what, we'll just kind of give him a uniform. >> Yeah. I don't think that, you know, he
he's not communicating well with anybody. I don't know that he's able to communicate or desires to communicate to
his parents what he wants to wear to school. So maybe they just buy some things that he seems comfortable with.
But yeah, he could have created his own uniform wearing that same blue polo shirt and khaki pants. The weird thing
about the briefcase, first of all, that's a strange thing to carry in high school. Uh, but the thing about this too
is a lot of people when they saw the briefcase opened, they said it was practically empty. So, it seemed even
more strange that he would carry this briefcase. It sounds to me there's a lot of accounts that when he was trying to
navigate through those hallways that he was using the briefcase as kind of a buffer between him and the other kids
that he would typically walk right on the edge of the hallway, right up against the wall and keep that briefcase
either right out in front of him or to the side of him that would kind of block him from the other children.
>> Yeah. Well, with the asberers it would, you know, that makes a lot of sense because he does not want to be touched.
Most uh people with Asperers have a real issue with personal space. >> And it was not uncommon for Adam to
require an escort to help him navigate through the hallways of the high school. >> And we'll get right back to the case
after this quick beer break. Cheers everybody. Where we left off, Adam Lanza was entering high school. His mother is
concerned. Nancy is concerned with his uh mental state and kind of what's going on in his head. and she's having a very
difficult time communicating with Adam. >> Yeah. And at the start of his sophomore
year, uh we do see a little bit of progress uh from from Adam as far as the social aspects concerned. Uh he
surprises everybody and he signs up for an afterchool program. Uh this is one of
those AV tech clubs uh where he is the he's video recording the school's basketball games. Um, so what we're
seeing here, Captain, I believe, is that we have this young, troubled man, right?
This this boy who has trouble fitting in and he doesn't want to be at school because of his anxieties and his
disorders. >> However, he's very smart and I think that when he's starting to see classes
that challenge him a little more, that he's able to dive into that and this might peique his interest and he's
coming out of his shell a bit here. Uh he's he's in a way opening up >> and like we said a lot of his classes at
this point are honor classes. >> Yeah. And he's taking things that seem a little little more fun to him like shop
class and then he's involved in this AV tech club. Um he does trade in the blue polo shirt uh for a green one and he
will wear that shirt for the remainder of his sophomore year. uh he does lose the briefcase and he he gets a more
traditional baguh that you would be used to seeing. Um >> yeah, I always rock the two straps.
>> It's around this time that Nancy starts adding to her collection. She's purchasing more guns, more firearms.
Again, she is encouraging her son's hobby of target shooting because other than this AV tech club, he Adam still
doesn't have any hobbies other than video games and target shooting. Uh it is believed that she kept some of the
guns for herself, but that she also gave some of the guns to Adam. Now, this has
been a topic of of discussion quite a bit that that were the guns, you know, the guns were obviously hers and maybe
she should have kept them locked up better, but there's plenty of evidence here that we will see going forward that
these guns were purchased for Adam. >> Mhm. Now we remember we have this divorce that the parents in the family
have just gone through recently and it's Adam's classmates that say that Adam was
greatly affected by his parents' divorce and that while he did not talk to most of the other kids, he did seem to write
about the separation often. >> Mhm. >> In September of 2009, Adam starts playing and becomes obsessed with a
video game called Combat Arms. This is a multi-player game. It's a modern style firsterson shooter game. The player is
in control of a gun and the object of this game is to kill the most enemy players. In this game, there is a form
of game play where whomever kills the most players in the shortest amount of time is the winner. And you can also
increase your kill number by killing yourself. This situation is quite different from real life. Obviously, in
the game world, he would fit in. He would fit in, you know, they would have these forums and these groups that you
could talk to. He was accepted into these groups where he would discuss game strategies and occasionally joke around.
Uh Adam creates an online and gaming persona in which he calls himself cane bread. This becomes a positive social
experience for Adam. Yeah. For I think a lot of parents you'd might go, "Well, this is a little odd." But the fact I
mean, the fact that he is talking to anybody or he's excited about anything that he is social with, uh, that's a
positive step in the right direction. And it's probably because of these games that he's playing, but he's also having
an increasing military obsession and fascination. Adam also becomes involved in an online community for gun
enthusiasts. uh he knows his stuff too from from his interactions on this form. Again, he fits in very well and he's
knowledgeable about firearms. >> Yeah. Now, what we're also seeing with Adam is that he's not very good with
social situations, but it seems like when he's behind a computer screen or a TV screen when he's playing these games
that he's kind of excelling more so than he ever has as far as the social communication. And it seems like he's
definitely willing to. Yeah, he's fitting in and he's reaching out to other people and communicating with
them. I do want to point out that this, you know, I mentioned the game Combat Arms that this is only one of many games
that Adam was playing. Uh most of these games were very violent games. >> Yeah, I've never actually heard of that
game before. >> I had not either. So, I and I don't know where to like rank these games as far as
violence go. It sounds to me like all of them were pretty violent. One of the games that he was playing is a situation
where the shooter was even killing women and children in the game. >> Yeah. Which is awful. But in this case,
in this conversation, if you will, the big conversation always is with these violent ga games, are kids more likely
to commit violent acts. I don't personally have an answer or a stance on that. >> I don't have an answer either. And I
don't want anybody saying, "Well, Nick's saying take away the violent video games." Because I think there there is a
place for them. Uh but one thing that we see time and time again in these situations where you have a mass
shooter, especially one that's a younger person that we are seeing a common it's
a common occurrence that these guys are playing violent video games. And I say guys because almost all of these crimes
are committed by young males, >> right? But then the question becomes did the violent game you know in you know
did the violent game cause the person to become more violent or was this person already a sociopath or a psychopath and
they were drawn to the violent games. >> I think each situation is probably different. Um I don't think that we can
say that it's the violent video games 100%. I do think that what it does do though is that it desensitizes them. you
know, when you're logging 500 hour, you know, there there was one of these games. I'm I'm not sure if it was the
Combat Arms game or not, but we talked about how violent that game is, but there was one of these violent games
that Adam had logged over over 500 uh times that he had played the game. >> And and I think in defense of his mother
on this, I mean, Adam is in honor, you know, in honor programs and he's doing well in school academically, not
socially. and his only social avenue are these games. So maybe she thought this was, you know, this would help his uh
social skills outside, you know, in the real world and not just the virtual world. Well, is it kind of an easy way
of being a parent that when you have a son that likes to lock himself in the basement and he's taped off all of the
windows so that he remember he likes to be in the dark, he prefers to be in the dark. Is it an easy way to be a parent
when when your your troubled son just goes off into the basement for hours upon hours and you don't have to deal
with him? You don't have to put up with the temper tantrums because he's happy. He's entertaining himself and you're not
really fully aware nor seem to >> care what he does in that room because you know he's safe and you know that
he's he's entertained and he's not disturbing you. Well, and in NY's defense, I mean, you have a child that
has a lot more challenges, faces probably more challenges than the typical kid. Um, but we see this time
and time again with just typical kids. You know, the parents just go, "Oh, well, you're on a phone or you're on an
iPad or whatever." Do, you know, who cares if it's healthy for you. Uh, I just don't have to deal with you right
now. I do think though that it again it desensitizes these kids to that certain level of violence even though it's just
onscreen violence. Uh but again if he's if he's logging over 500 games on this one particular game that's thousands
upon thousands of hours spending watching those violent images over and over again. And we do know from studies
that if if a kid is young enough that they almost cannot separate the the the reality, you know, real life reality
from what they're seeing on the screen. >> And I Right. And I don't know much uh I
don't know a lot about Asberers, but I've also heard that, you know, they can get hyperfocused on something. And so,
do you really want your kid that can get super hyperfocused on something to be hyperfocused on killing people or, you
know what I mean? or or violence in general. >> Well, it's around the same time that
that Adam would start to spend countless hours studying mass killers online. He spent about 7 months or so just
collecting information on these killers to the point where he was an expert on mass murderers
>> to the point where he was going on to Wikipedia and he was correcting entries.
You know, if people had put wrong dates on there, he would go in and correct them. if somebody had put, you know,
names of locations were wrong, but most of the time he was correcting the weapons that were used or descriptions
of those weapons that were used in those attacks. >> Yeah. And at this point, Lloyd Christmas
is getting pretty creepy, right? And I think at at this point I can put point a finger at Nancy on the idea of if your
kid that is hyperfocused on mass murders and going on Wikipedia and changing dates and stuff, this is something you
should be aware of. >> You're right. Yeah. Or or at least have a hint of it. Right.
>> Right. >> If if you're if he's spending hours and months on this project that he's
created. >> But Well, but okay. I'm going to play devil's advocate for myself. Okay.
>> But if he's not communicating, >> it makes it tough. >> How would she know? I mean, you'd have
to go the extra step and look at, you know, look, here's a I'm not a parent, but I think all parents should do this.
I I was a parent for a time. I was a stepfather, and kids had cell phones and iPads, but at any time, I would just go,
"Let me see your phone." Like, they might be laughing a little too hard, and I just go, "Let me see your phone." And
if they didn't want to give me their phone, >> that phone was taken away for a week,
but it was constantly checking their, you know, not constantly, but you know, just doubleeing what is their uh what
are they searching on the internet. >> Yeah. And I and I like these households where you see parents saying, you know,
there's not a closed door in this house. This is an open door house. You know, the we're not going to hide behind
closed doors. So that way everybody in the household kind of knows what's going on with the children. I I do understand
the older that these kids get that gets a little tougher. They do deserve some privacy.
>> Well, and it's harder in this community as well because these houses were larger.
>> Yeah. >> So, it wasn't like, you know, the shoe boxes we live in. I mean, these were
houses that, you know, a person over here, you know, on one side of the house and the person on the other side of the
house might not even hear each other. >> Not only larger, but emptier. I mean, as
Adam has gotten older, you know, the parents get divorced, the father moves away. Uh Ryan's four years older than
him. He moves away as well. Uh the the house is big and it's and it's empty. >> Mhm. You know, internet searches aside,
there's a lot of items that Adam had that his mother should have found. Well, we talked about him researching these
mass killers and wanting to know everything about them, but he also kind of had some kind of like memorabilia of
them where he he had newspaper clippings and stories that he had printed from the
internet regarding these different mass shooters. So, those were would be physical items that his mother could
have found. Now, one of the most disturbing, probably the most disturbing item that that we know of is a
spreadsheet that he created. Now, I'm not certain that this was a physical spreadsheet. I don't know that he
actually printed this off and referenced it, >> right? >> But we do know that it was an at least
an electronic thing that he had stored on his computer. Now, what was this spreadsheet? This was he had he had
listed several hundreds of mass shooters. And just just to hear that sentence alone is terrifying to remind
yourself that there's been hundreds of these situations, >> right? But he had listed several
hundreds of these mass shooters and created this spreadsheet that has been reported to have been approximately 7
foot long in length. >> Yeah. So, we don't know if it was actual physical or if it was digital, but if
you did print it, then it' be 7 foot in length. >> You're right. And it would be
approximately 4 foot wide. >> Jesus. >> So, this is a massive uh collection of data here. And this this appeared to be
Adam had ranked them from, you know, number one to whatever, however many hundreds of these people he had
researched, but it seemed to be mostly based off of who had had the most kills or created the most dramatic situation.
Um, you know, so we we have that's some pretty extensive research there, Captain. um some serious time that he's
spent diving into these these other people that that are creating havoc. >> Yeah. And frankly, this is becoming a
lot more disturbing. >> After some faculty changes at the high school, Nancy started not to believe
that Adam's needs were being met. Remember, we talked about when he started his freshman year, he she had
worked with some school officials so that he could start off in a private setting. Yeah. And he could work his way
into the general population of the school. um one of those faculty members or I I
don't know exactly who she worked with to be honest with you, but they were no longer there at the school as as the
years gone by. And at some point she feels that there are not there's nobody there that understands Adam that
understands his disorders and or his needs, >> right? She doesn't have an ally in the
fight anymore. >> Correct. So this would be uh his junior year. just after his junior year, Nancy
decides to take Adam out of New Town High School. Uh, and it's it's reported by people at the school that that Nancy
seemed to be angry with the school, but Adam also seemed to be angry with the school because of this because he was
leaving this place. Even though he had this anxiety about going there, we did see some progress while he was in high
school. And like you said, you know, it's supposed to be a place that you look back on that that's of good
memories. Um, even though he had this anxiety, we don't know that maybe he didn't have good memories there. You
talk about a boy that that it his family's moving away. It's just him and his mother in a house
>> other than violent video games and research about violent criminals. that maybe his only social interaction
outside of those four walls was the school. Maybe the only thing he was leaving the house for was to go to
school. I mean, other than the shooting range and to go rent some video games. >> Well, and I wonder also at this point he
was playing video games online, I'm assuming, and being in part of that community. Sometimes kids, you know,
will find a couple buddies at school that also play. So maybe he had a couple people that maybe just even said hi to
him and maybe that was enough for him to enjoy that experience at school. >> You're right. It could be a bit of a
common ground. Give him something to talk to other kids about. Um so after high school, after he's taken out of
high school of his junior year, uh Adam is enrolled in Western Connecticut State
University. Nancy believed that he would do better in a more adult environment where there would be less chaos. Um any
>> well I feel for her too because at at some point you're grasping at straws, right?
>> Yeah. I don't The thing is what we're seeing is we're seeing a a mother that cares. She absolutely cares. It's just
she doesn't know what to do. And I and I don't know that that most of us would know what to do in this situation.
>> But we're seeing her try some different things. To me, I just question if she could have
received a little more information from the people around her on on ways to cope
with this and to deal with this. Um, I don't know that her answers were always the best. And I know that I'm sitting in
a seat where I'm able to look back after this >> terrible tragedy and and go, "Well, she
didn't she didn't do the right thing." Did Did Nancy love Adam? Yes, 100%. We see we see that we see a mother giving a
lot of effort here but uh you know we we also know that effort doesn't always take place of intelligence or or
informative decisions >> right and and I think sometimes uh we'll never know but I think
sometimes people are lost causes you know it's like you know the whole what came first is the chicken or the egg we
don't know but I mean possibly in this case he just had these demons inside him from the beginning.
>> Yeah. There's also some question with Adam about on top of these disorders, did he have any kind of anorexia? Um,
you know, because he is a very thin, very thin young man. >> Um, and so that there's been a lot of
question about that. I've heard different accounts. Couldn't really put my thumb down on it if that was the
actual case. But I know that his size and his stature also led her to believe that that he would be a even more so a
target of bullying. >> Yeah. I think when you see pictures of him and some of the famous pictures of
him, you know, he looks I mean he he was 20 years old at the time of the attack.
He doesn't look 20 at all. >> No, >> he looks almost 12. >> Yeah. >> And his his bone structure in his face
is very prominent and and >> he almost looks malnourished. very pale. Uh but again, we said he preferred the
dark and and and you know, we know he was in the basement constantly at home with the with the windows taped up so
that there was no light coming in. >> Yeah. And then a lot of these kids that get super focused on whether it's iPad
or or video games or whatever it is that they lose track of time and they they don't, you know, they forget to eat or
they don't even care to eat. >> Academically, he had no problem with high school. Um, and intelligence-wise,
he had no problem with handling the classes or or the the school. Um, it's just I just really wonder here I if
that's the right thing to do to remove a kid from high school and then place them
in an adult setting, in an adult environment such as a as a community college. >> Yeah. In all fairness though, I mean,
you know, high school is not a huge step up. You know, going from high school to
college is not a huge step up. So, it's not like, you know, he would have been a
senior the following year, so he only stepped up one year in advance. >> He did take seven classes uh when he was
at Western Connecticut State University, uh receiving a 3.28 grade average. Um so
again, academics is not a problem for this young man. Um in 2010, Adam's father, Peter, now let's talk about
their divorce for a little bit. Okay. Peter, we had said, was very successful. Worked for General Electric, uh, was a
vice president. He he made approximately like half a million dollars. >> Oh, good for him.
>> Well, in the divorce, uh, >> how did you say that? Divorce. >> Yeah. Nancy received a lot of alimony or
a lot of child support, right? Um, but it was also agreed upon the two that they both understood that Adam had
plenty of issues with his >> needs as well. >> And Peter understood that Adam needed to
be cared for practically 247, >> even even as a young man and probably as an adult as well. And so he understood
that his son that nobody could go off and work a full-time job and care for him at the same time. So, I don't think
that Peter fought any of anything that was decided in the divorce. He it was agreed upon that he he gave almost half
of his salary to Nancy so that Nancy could stay home, provide for Adam and take care of him.
>> Yeah. And that's good on Peter, right? >> And and again, this was not only for the
time that Adam was a child, but as an adult as well. Nancy would receive this amount of money for the rest of her life
with steady increases annually as well. Um, so money is not the problem. >> Money is definitely not the problem.
>> But what is also decided is that Nancy would have primary custody of the kids.
>> Mhm. >> And but Peter's going to spend regular time with the children as far as visits
go. You know how these things work. You take them on the weekends or for holidays. Uh try to take the kids
places. So he's spending an ample amount of time with both of his sons. Uh, it's
in 2010 that Adam's father, Peter, begins dating again, or at least to the point that it's serious enough for Adam
to recognize this. And at this time, Adam decides to stop seeing and communicating with his father. At the
same time, he also decides to do the same with his brother, as well as an uncle that he was close to growing up.
Also, in 2010, Adam receives his driver's license. Uh but again, the only places he's really interested in going
to would be the shooting range and the video game store. Uh he also drops out of school at this time. He stops going
to college. So 2010, there's a there's a lot of things happening here, right? Uh
we we see we see a boy that's taken out of high school. He goes into the college
situation for one year and then he shortly after that he's dropped communication with his father, his
brother, his uncle, collects his driver's license, practically just staying at home. Might as well not have
a license at all. With the exception though, it should be noted though he was going to the shooting range on occasions
by himself at this point once he had the driver's license. Um, but then dropping
out of college ultimately. One could assume that he's going to the driving range with his own guns as well.
>> But right, of course you mean the shooting range. He's not going to the driving range and scaring the hell out
of the golfers with his own guns. >> Let's fast forward in time just a little bit to 2012.
>> Yeah. Nancy Lanza starts getting out of the house more. We have to think about
this situation here. We have a we have this troubled child and it's probably caused her obviously a lot of stress uh
on her life and her situation. And in 2012, she she develops some more friendships with some of the locals. She
starts going to a local pizza place for a beer or two during happy hour a few times a week.
>> Um, some of the information that we would later find out about the relationship between Nancy and Adam
would be from some of these friends that she created at at this happy hour. >> Yeah. Everybody needs somebody to vent
to, and what better what better way to vent than with some pizza and beer. Well, she also starts going on overnight
trips with friends from time to time as well. You know, it Adam is very much an adult and even though he doesn't have
any hobbies or anything other than locking himself in the basement and playing violent video games, he's fine
with inside of those four walls. He's able to care for himself. And she goes on these overnight trips. I believe she
went on a dozen or so in uh the year of 2012. Um, remember we talked about Adam having
this growing obsession with the military? Well, he had he wanted to become a Marine. And this was something
that he was only really being vocal about with his mother >> and he had posters all over the walls in
the basement of different combat situations, you know, things like tanks and aircraft carriers and things that
you would heavy machinery that you would see in the armed forces. Um, at some point Nancy has to have a long talk with
Adam and explain to him that he's never going to be a Marine. Um, this obviously
because of his disorders, he could never be a Marine. He I mean, you're talking about a kid that had trouble leaving the
home, a person that had trouble going to school, >> which I have some uh trouble with
because I think on some level she could say, "Well, look, you know, we get you into some counseling and there are
certain things that may, you know, maybe set it as a goal. Maybe he won't reach that goal, but it gives him something to
kind of get out of bed, get out of the basement, try to do something productive with his life." She would also tell
friends that she's hanging out with that Adam's time in front of the computer screen or in front of a video game game
screen seems to be increasing now that he has less responsibilities or obligations.
>> And he also seems to be turning away from her as well. Uh maybe this is just him getting older or maybe this does
have to do with his time spent with these video games. >> Yeah. Or maybe, like I said, I I I
believe on some level she has this mother's intuition and maybe that she knows that there's something more
sinister going on here. Adam is 20 now and Nancy is still finding disturbing drawings in his possession. You know,
this thing that that all the experts, the people at the school had told her he would probably grow out of. Well, now
he's 20. He's a young man. He's not a boy anymore. And she's still finding these disturbing drawings. one of them
and and these are drawings that he these are sketches he's making. One such sketch is of a woman holding a rosary
and she is shot she's being shot by machine gun fire. >> Okay. >> Another one is an open field and in the
open field lie mutilated bodies of children scattered throughout the field. Their faces are so bloodied that you
couldn't discern any of their features. >> Yeah, at this point this guy really needs to be seeking professional help.
And there is also a drawing of a what appears to be a younger Adam with a with blood pouring from his forehead and his
arms are held up into the sky. It's like a almost like a suicide picture that he's drawn of himself.
>> We had Lloyd Christmas just keeps getting creepier and creepier. >> Well, we had the talk about her
explaining to Adam that he couldn't become a Marine. Yeah. >> Uh here's some added stress though to
the situation because now >> Nancy starts discussing the idea of moving to another state with Adam. Um
and the plan was to move to Washington state which is quite a bit of ways from Connecticut.
>> Is this for a romantic >> No, I I don't know the reasons for the moving, but it doesn't sound like she
had developed any type of relationship that would have taken her there. Um but but Adam was to go with her. Um so so
that family portion would not be disrupted. It would just be transplanted. Um >> again, Adam at first he seems pretty hip
to the idea of moving, but as it becomes closer to, you know, the goal of moving
and as these talks become more and more serious, Adam starts to shut down even more. Now he now we're seeing the
opposite reaction from him. He's not liking the idea of moving. Uh Nancy was planning on moving with Adam to
Washington State. This probably would have taken place sometime in 2013. Uh but also the other thing here too
that that has not been well reported in my opinion was that by this time NY's health is really starting to fail her as
well. Um this again is probably a lot of this is probably just >> due to stress.
>> Yeah. cuz she's only 52 years of of age, you know, and a lot of her friends seem
to think that she she appeared to be healthy, but she did have some uh she had some hidden health problems uh that
that were coming about and really starting to take their toll on her uh as she was still trying to care for her now
adult son. >> Yeah. And before we get to December of 2012, uh tell me again about NY's dream.
>> Well, this was a situation that happened. This is something she told her friend about uh in September of 2012
that she had had a dream about Adam that she she in the dream she was outside with Adam. They were enjoying like a
beautiful day, right? >> Mhm. >> When all of a sudden a large gust of wind comes and it starts to slowly lift
Adam up into the air. Now Nancy runs over and grabs Adam's legs, and she's trying to hold on to him, but the pull
just starts to get stronger and stronger, >> and then she loses her grip on her son,
>> and Adam slowly lifts up into the air, higher and higher into the sky. >> Nancy watches Adam get smaller and
smaller as he gets further and further from him to the point where she cannot see him any longer. It's kind of crazy
dream when you think about how involved she had to be and being that helicopter mom and always watching over him and
even when she couldn't be there trying to make sure others were watching out for him as well. And as he's growing
older, you know, this this is the dream that she has that that at some point he's a man. And on top of that, if her
health gets worse, who's going to be around to to watch after him? Well, and maybe some kind of
metaphor for the fact that he was withdrawing anyways, or like I said, and what I've been saying from the get-go, I
I really believe that she had a gut feeling uh uh about her son and and and a a gut feeling that she didn't want to
have. Well, what should have happened here, Captain, is that gut feeling. You got to use that and talk to some other
people. Again, I my complaint here is not that Nancy didn't care for Adam. I think she cared for him an unbelievable
amount. >> Mhm. >> Um I just don't think that she even though she thought she did, I don't
think she knew what was best for him. >> Well, thank you, Captain Obvious. >> I also want to talk about a few other
things that were taking place leading up to December 2012. >> Mhm. >> So Nancy, these are all things that
Nancy had told friends of hers. Um, now keep in mind we the neighbors would describe Nancy and Adam Adam as kind of
like ghost like they were just not there. You know, this was a community where people went out and they spoke to
their neighbors and they did things in the community. Well, Adam we know obviously didn't do that.
>> And other than some friendship that that Nancy had, we don't see a lot of that
either. And a lot of that's probably her being home with her son caring for for her son.
>> Yeah. Or just the extra stress of it. Um, but she would tell friends that leading up, this is just a couple weeks
before uh the event took place, that she had had an experience with Adam. Th this
was he was not leaving the home by this point. >> 3 months before December, he was
basically on lockdown and he had locked himself up and he's not leaving the house.
>> Self locked down, >> right? He He's not going to the video game store. He's not going to the
shooting range anymore. He's not going to the driving range either. >> Yeah. He's not doing anything with this
driver's license. And things got so strange that he at some point started only communicating with his mother
through email. >> They live in the same in the same home. The two of them are in the same home and
he's only communicating with her through email. Now, >> one thing that happened too was that
Nancy was planning a, you know, we talked about these overnight trips that she started to do. Well, those were just
that, just over one night. They were just short trips. Well, late that year, she was planning to take a much longer
trip. She wanted to go to London. And this would be a bit of a household experiment, if you will. This would be a
point for her to go off and have some leisure time and get away from the stresses of home and to see if Adam
could handle himself for more than one night on his own. >> Yeah. Because normally at this point as
a parent, you know, your your child is 20 years old, sometimes moves away to go to college or if they're still living at
home, they're in school, they probably have a job, they're just not around the house that much and it becomes back, it
gets back to me time, >> right? >> And she doesn't have that luxury. >> Now, Adam bumps his head. She reports
this to some of her friends that there's some kind of accident in the home and she she states that he bumped his head
pretty badly and he was taking it very badly as well. So he's he's injured somehow. We don't know the details of
this, but for whatever reason, and it's probably this situation, she states that
she canled her London trip and simply just states to friends that it's because of things going on at home that she's no
longer going to go on this London trip. >> And I'm sure she's talking to Adam about
this trip. So maybe, you know, maybe it's this elaborate plan because he doesn't want her to leave.
>> Mhm. And she I mean, she's really backed in a corner here, right? I mean, she
he's no longer communicating with his father and >> or brother or uncle and now he's only
communicating with you through email. >> Yeah. And now you can't go somewhere. You can't take this trip because he
probably does need somebody to look after him. He might not be able to handle uh being alone for that amount of
time, >> right? But there's also there's probably something going on through her head,
right? NY's head. >> He's 20 years old. She wants to She wants to get on with her life. She
wants to have a life, >> right? >> I wonder at this point it's going, "Okay, well now am I because he's my
son, am I am I locked down forever? Am I, you know, handicapped by his handicaps basically?
>> Um, it's really tough spot for her to be in. >> Yeah. And she can't get the father
involved. She can't push Adam off onto the father to to get away for a week because he's broken communication with
him and and now only communicating through to you through email. If you if you attempt something like that, he
might break off communication with you as well and might be lost completely. >> Well, you're right. Right.
>> This brings us to Friday, December 14th, 2012. Mhm. >> Now, sometime between or sometime before
9:30 that morning, Adam got up and he's planning something and he's doing some things in the house. We're a little
unclear of what those movements are and we'll come to those later. However, what
we do know that takes place that morning before 9:30 is that Nancy at only 15 52
years of age, she's shot dead. >> And this is the situation. She's found in her bed still wearing her pajamas.
She's lying on her back and she's shot four times in the head with a 22 caliber Savage MK2F
boltaction rifle. >> Mhm. >> Now, she's shot at such a close distance that they are almost certain that the
barrel of the gun would have been touching her head. Meaning that even if she was still asleep when this took
place, she probably there was probably enough time that from the time that it was pointed to her head that she may
have opened her eyes just in time to see her son shooting her, >> right? >> Um the
>> hopefully not. >> She was shot so badly and at such a close range four times that it almost
took off her head uh to to to put it, you know, >> bluntly. Yeah. Obviously, we don't we
don't fully know if he took her hostage for any length of time or if she was aware of what was going on. All we can
go off of is the evidence that we see afterwards and that of her being in her bed, still in her pajamas. So, it is
assumed that she was probably attacked in her sleep that morning. >> Mhm. >> This all took place uh just before 9:30
and right afterwards. uh if if he killed her at 9:30, then immediately afterwards
he got into her car and he drove away. >> And the problem with covering these shows are these cases is we all know
what is next and that's what we're going to dive into tomorrow because I I I just
can't do >> Yeah, I think it's been enough for one day. >> Well, it's been enough for the whole
week. You know, I you I can't iterate as we we put cases on there, then you dive
in and it physically affects you and it's and and this one uh more so than anything, watching the documentary uh
New Town, which you know, at the end of it has it has noformational value really
>> other than the pain and the suffering that these families go through. And but we you know we signed up to do a
show every week on true crime and we it was too almost too late to back out. >> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Um but just for anybody that's concerned about listening tomorrow, we will be um as
respectful as we can and and very aware of, you know, we don't want to cause anybody emotional uh trauma from
listening to the show by any means. If it's something you don't think you can handle, by all means, don't listen to
that show. Um but we will not be graphic about that or anything. We want to be respectful to
the victims and the victim's family. >> On a lighter note, I do have some recommended reading for today um this
week recommending The Spider in the Fly by Claudia Row. Uh, in this superb work of literature, true crime, a uh,
spellbinding combination of a memoir and a psychological suspense, we have a situation where we have a female
journalist who chronicles her unusual connection with a convict convicted serial killer and her search to
understand the darkness inside of him and what might lie inside of all of us. Now, I'm recommending this one not only
because it's a fantastic book, >> but because last week I misspoke when we were talking about the National Forest
serial killer. >> Oh, you or me misspeak. Never happens. >> Well, I last week I was referring to a
uh another serial killer >> and I call I said Joseph Francois and his actual name is Kendall Francois and
I was actually just going off of off of my poor memory there. But uh this book is about uh the journalist having a
relationship with Kendall Francois, that serial killer that I talked about briefly in our last episode.
>> Was it just a friendship or was it sexual? >> No, no, no. She she was a journalist and
she was uh reporting on his story once he was already in prison. So she went to meet with him on multiple occasions. Now
she's a young attractive journalist. So, this is very kind of Silence of the Lambsish, you know, where you have the
young woman meeting with the the the psychopath. Yeah. And there I want to read a little quick caption from the
book to you. Uh it goes like this. Well, well, Claudia, >> can I call you Claudia?
>> I have to give it to you. When confronted, at least you're honest. As honest as any reporter. You want to go
into the depths of my mind and into my past. I want to peek into yours. It's only fair, isn't it? And that was by the
serial killer, Kendall Franco. >> Wow. That and that really comes off as that Silence of the Lambs type feel.
>> Yeah. So, check out The Spider and the Fly by Claudia Row and you can do that
by going to our website. We have our recommended page. You're going to see lots of books to choose from, even a
couple of movies on there as well. And again, a special thanks to everybody that shares on social media. It's it's
been awesome. uh check out some of our new stuff on YouTube. Uh make sure you tell a friend. Uh we appreciate it and
it it's the reason why we're able to give we've been trying to do two parters almost every week now.
>> And we will see you again here in the garage tomorrow. And until then, be good, be kind, and don't litter.
[Music]

Sandy Hook /// Part 1 /// Episode: 79

TrueCrimeGarage.com

It didn't start with Columbine but if you ask people my age that's the first School massacre that we remember and you hate to force yourself to rank these tragedies but Sandy Hook certainly is one of the worst. These stories are becoming a common occurence. We won't say it out loud but we are becoming numb to these horrible events. We use to kiss our kids and send them off hoping they would learn something and make us proud but these days we kiss our kids and hope that they come back. Once we shake off the shock and try to comprehend these tragic stories we must know why. We seek out to answer every question one can think of but even after we have done so, we are still confused. We have to blame someone, that part is easy as usually the guilty party is found close to his victims with a bullet in his head. But that's just not enough. That's not good enough. Because kids are not supposed to die, parents are not supposed to bury their children and children and young adults are supposed to have too many exciting things to look forward to in their lives to ever think or consider carrying out these plans that end lives, ruin families, destroy communities and break the hearts of a nation. Why?Is the problem our gun control laws? Is the problem mind altering pharmaceuticals treating our troubled youth? Or is it the bullies? We may never know.

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Brief Summary

The episode discusses the Sandy Hook shooting and Adam Lanza's troubled life leading up to the tragedy.

Key points

Welcome to True Crime Garage. Hosts Nick and Captain introduce the show and share a light-hearted moment about ping pong.
Sandy Hook Tragedy. A discussion on the devastating Sandy Hook school shooting and its impact on the community.
Adam's Struggles with Fitting In. Adam Lanza faced bullying and isolation at school, struggling to connect with peers.
The Disturbing Spreadsheet. Adam created a massive spreadsheet listing hundreds of mass shooters, showcasing his obsession.
Nancy's Struggles with Adam's Education. Nancy decides to take Adam out of high school, feeling frustrated with the school's support.
Adam's Isolation Grows. In 2010, Adam drops out of college and cuts off communication with family.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Kids are not supposed to die.

A poignant reflection on the tragedy of school shootings.

6:54WatchOct 1, 2025

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