Mass. stabbing victim chosen randomly

A high school sophomore charged with fatally stabbing a classmate searched for a random victim the morning of the school slaying, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

John Odgren followed James Alenson, 15, into a bathroom at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School on Jan. 19 after no one entered a separate bathroom the special needs student had staked out, prosecutor Daniel Bennett said.

"The defendant, John Odgren, did not know James Alenson, had not been teased by James Alenson, had not been shunned by James Alenson, did not even know his name," Bennett said.

Odgren slashed Alenson's throat before stabbing him through the heart and in the abdomen, Bennett said.

A third student was in a bathroom stall and heard Alenson say, "What are you doing? You are hurting me!" Bennett said.

Alenson went into the hallway and Odgren knelt beside the dying student and checked his pulse, Bennett said.

"I did it. I just snapped. I don't know why," Odgren told a teacher who ran to the scene, Bennett said.

He said Odgren had a history of threatening behavior at the school 17 miles west of Boston.

Odgren appeared in Middlesex Superior Court and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder Tuesday.

The 16-year-old has been in custody since the day of the killing. Judge Isaac Borenstein agreed with a defense request to send Odgren to a state hospital for a 20-day evaluation.

After the hearing, defense lawyer Jonathan Shapiro said Bennett's version of events is "completely outrageous."

"Most of what he said today is untrue, will be shown to be untrue, and a lot of it is a figment of someone's imagination," Shapiro said.

Odgren suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and hyperactivity disorder.