Rage by Jerry Langton Read Free Book Online Page B

of my brother.” Both arrests were recorded at 2:35 p.m., November 26.
    Despite—or maybe because of—the seriousness of the situation, the cops at intake couldn’t help but feel a mordant amusement when they saw what the boys were wearing. Kevin had on a bright red T-shirt with the Nike slogan “Just Do It,” and Pierre was wearing a white T-shirt with a picture of a man up to his neck in the Nile River just in front of the pyramids, with the words “Deep In Denial” printed beneath him.

    Later that day, homicide Detective Sergeant Terry Wark and his partner Jerry Ball were brought in to interrogate Kevin. Before he turned the tape recorder on, Wark told Kevin that he and Ball were both fathers and that they were trying very hard to understand why he’d done what he had. Kevin offered no response. Wark informed him that he could talk to a lawyer before he answered any questions. He also repeated the charges against him. Kevin said he understood. They began the interview when Wark turned on the tape.
    Wark: Do you wish to say anything in answer to the charges against you?
    Kevin: I want to say it was not first degree; I didn’t plan it.
    That response surprised Wark, but he surmised that Kevin was trying to play Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act (formerly named, and still better known as, the Young Offenders Act ) to his advantage. Under the controversial and much-criticized legislation, Wark anticipated that Kevin was aware that he would face a much lighter sentence if tried as a youth than he would as an adult and that he would probably not be tried as an adult unless the charge was first-degree murder.
    At that point, Kevin asked if could call a lawyer. Wark agreed and turned off the tape. Then Kevin returned to the interrogation room and Wark turned the tape back on.
    Wark: Do you realize what you’ve done?
Kevin: Yes I do.
Wark: How do you feel?
Kevin: Not so good.
Wark: What did your brother do to deserve to die?
    At this point, Kevin began to cry.
    Kevin: I just get depressed . . . and things happen . . . and I snap . . .
Wark: Why your little brother?
Kevin: I don’t want to talk about it.
    Kevin regained his composure.
    Wark: Anything else to say?
Kevin: No.
Wark: Any further questions?
Kevin: No.

CHAPTER 3
The Truth About Goths: Why Kids Want To Be Vampires
    About a week after Johnathon’s death, Ashley received an alarming e-mail. She was very surprised to see that it was from Tim. The subject line was—as was usual for Tim—typed in all caps and with little regard for spelling or grammar, it read: IM IN JAIL.
    Tim was being held at the Syl Apps Youth and Secure Treatment Centre. Kevin and Pierre were at other facilities. The Syl Apps Centre is in Oakville, Ontario, about an hour’s drive southwest of 90 Dawes. Named after the late star forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Olympic pole-vaulter who later became a Conservative Member of Parliament, the Syl Apps is a detention, custody and treatment facility for mentally ill youth.
    Normally it is an efficiently run facility that has little interaction with the neighborhood around it, and it has been the source of few news-making incidents. But on December 1, 2003, Tim was left unsupervised on an Internet-equipped computer long enough to log onto his MSN e-mail account and compose a message for Ashley. The message was time-stamped at around midnight, but my sources tell me that the kids at Syl Apps frequently change times and dates on the computers there just for fun, and it was most likely sent in the early afternoon. At least, that’s when Ashley received it.
    “This is the story,” was his opener, and he went on to claim that none of what happened was his fault. He explained to her that when he arrived at Kevin’s, he and Pierre were already talking about killing Kevin’s family. Since they were laughing and having a good time, he was sure they were joking and so he went along with the joke. As he understood it, Kevin was planning to