Kip Kinkel

Kipland Philip Kinkel
Status	in prison
Occupation	student
Parent(s)	Bill Kinkel, Faith Kinkel
Criminal charge	murder, attempted murder
Penalty	111 years imprisonment

Kipland Philip Kinkel (born August 30, 1982) is an American spree killer who became the youngest person in Oregon history to receive a de facto life sentence without parole. He killed his parents, and afterwards two of his classmates while wounding 25 at Thurston High School in Springfield, where he was a student. Kinkel was 15 years old at the time of the incident, and had a history of clinical depression. He is currently serving a 111-year custodial order, and will never be eligible for parole.

Biography

Early childhood

Both of Kinkel's parents were Spanish teachers. The Kinkel family had spent one year in Spain when he was six, where he attended a non-English-speaking school.

Kinkel had a strong interest in guns and bombs from an early age. His father at first resisted this, but later signed his son up for gun safety, bought him a .22 caliber rifle and eventually a 9mm Glock handgun.

Expulsion

On May 20 1998, the day before the initial shooting, Kinkel was expelled from Thurston High School for being in possession of a handgun. A friend, Korey Ewert, had stolen a gun from Scott Keeney, the father of one of his friends, and arranged to sell it to Kinkel the night before. On the 20th, Kinkel paid $110 for the gun, a Beretta .32 pistol loaded with a 9 round magazine, which he then put in paper bag and left in his locker.

Scott Keeney soon discovered he was missing a handgun, and called the police to report it, and gave them a list of names of students he believed might have stolen the firearm. Kinkel's name was not on the list. Eventually, the school became aware of his possible involvement and sent for him. When he was checked for weapons on his person, he reportedly stated: "Look, I'm gonna be square with you guys; the gun's in my locker". Kinkel was then arrested along with Korey Ewert, expelled, then released from police custody and driven home by his father, Bill.

Murder of parents

Later that afternoon, Kinkel retrieved his locked up Ruger semi-automatic rifle from his parents' room, loaded it, and proceeded to the kitchen, where he shot his father once in the back of the head as he was drinking coffee, killing him instantly. Kinkel's father had told his son that he would send him to military school due to trouble he was getting into.

He then waited for his mother to come home. When she did, at about 6:00 p.m., Kinkel told her that he loved her and shot her a total of six times through the head and heart. He later claimed he wanted to protect his parents from the embarrassment his expulsion would have caused them. Kinkel left his mother's body in the garage and dragged his father into the bathroom, where he locked the door. He placed a white sheet over each of the bodies.

During the night he also played a song from the soundtrack of William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet repeatedly. It was still playing when the police arrived.

May 21: Shooting at Thurston High

On May 21, Kinkel drove his mother's Ford Explorer to his former high school. He wore a trenchcoat to hide the four weapons he carried, including:

• Hunting Knife (purchased for him by his father)
• 9mm Glock 19 pistol
• Ruger .22 Semi-Automatic Rifle
• Ruger .22 pistol

He left his mother's car outside the school and carried a backpack filled with ammunition. He entered the hallway and fired two shots, one fatally wounding Ben Walker and the other wounding Ryan Atteberry. Kinkel then entered the cafeteria and, walking across the cafeteria, fired the remaining 48 rounds from the 50-round magazine in his rifle, wounding 24 students and killing Mikeal Nicholauson, also a student.

When his rifle ran out of ammunition and Kinkel began to reload, wounded student (leave DELETED) tackled Kinkel, who attempted to kill him with the Glock. He only managed to fire one shot before he knocked the gun out of Kip's hand. More students, including (DELETED) brother, helped restrain Kinkel until the police arrived and arrested him.

Nicholauson died at the scene, and Walker died after being transported to the hospital and kept on life support until his parents arrived. The other students, including (who was in critical condition) were also taken to the hospital with a variety of wounds.

At the high school, he fired a total of 48 rounds in less than a minute, 38 of them were hits. 47 were .22 bullets from the rifle, and one bullet was from the 9mm Glock.

The Five boys were hailed as heroes by some and received awards from the Boy Scouts.

Arrest and sentencing

Kinkel was arrested. When brought to the police station, he lunged at Al Warthen, a police officer, with his knife, screaming "Shoot me, kill me!" The officer sprayed Kinkel with pepper spray, thwarting his attack. Kinkel later said that he wanted to trick the officer into shooting him, and that he had wanted to commit suicide after killing his parents, but could not bring himself to do it.

It was reported that he had two bullets strapped to his chest at the time of the shooting, in order to end his life; however, he was never able to use them.

At his sentencing, the defense presented a number of experts in mental health in an effort to prove that Kinkel was mentally ill. The only psychologist who had seen Kinkel before the shootings maintained that he was in satisfactory mental health. However, he had only seen Kinkel for a total of nine sessions, after which his parents felt that he had made satisfactory progress.

On September 24, 1999, three days before jury selection was set to begin, Kinkel pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder, foregoing the possibility of being acquitted by reason of insanity. It was hoped he would receive a 30-40 year prison sentence because of his guilty plea, but in November 1999, Kinkel was sentenced to more than 111 years in prison, without the possibility of parole. At sentencing, Kinkel apologized to the court for the murder of his parents and the shooting spree.

As of June 2007, Kinkel is seeking a new trial. He has argued that his previous attorneys should have taken the case to trial and used the insanity defense. Two psychiatrists have testified that Kinkel exhibited the signs of paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the shooting.

Serving time

Kinkel is currently serving his 111 year sentence at the Oregon State Correctional Institution in Salem, Oregon. He completed his high school diploma while serving a portion of his life sentence at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, Oregon. On June 11 2007, Kinkel, nearing his 25th birthday (maximum age to be held as a juvenile in Oregon), was transferred from the Oregon Youth Authority juvenile facility, MacLaren, to Oregon State Correctional Institution in Salem.

Victims

Kinkel home

• Bill Kinkel, by a single .22 shot to the back of the head
• Faith Kinkel, by 6 .22 rounds to the head and chest

Thurston High School

• Ben Walker, by a single .22 round to the head
• Mikeal Nicholauson, injured by shots to the chest and thigh, and killed by a point blank bullet to the head.

References in Pop Culture

Some of the lyrics in the Marilyn Manson song "The Reflecting God" are said to be based on Kinkel. Manson has been named as a possible influence on Kinkel.

External links

• Interviews with Kip's sister Kristen and other information
• CourtTV article on Kinkel