The state’s highest upheld the conviction of Philip Chism, who raped and killed Andover native and Danvers High School math teacher Colleen Ritzer in 2013.
Chism, now 25, was 14 when he received a life sentence for the murder charge with the possibility of parole after 25 years. He also received a concurrent 40-year sentence for the aggravated rape charge. His lawyers argued he deserves a new trial because the sentence amounts to life without parole and violates Article 26 of the state constitution.
“The non-homicide offenses were distinct heinous acts that inflicted, as the Commonwealth argues, ‘suffering and humiliation in their 94 own right’,” the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court wrote in its 94-page ruling. “A forty-year prison sentence does not shock the conscience.”
Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said his office was “gratified” by the ruling.
“Colleen Ritzer was a beloved math teacher in her second year at Danvers High School. It was her dream job. As Judge Lowy aptly said in sentencing, she lived ‘a life of quiet heroism’,” Tucker said. “Throughout this process, I have been deeply moved and inspired by the grace of the Ritzer family. I hope that this decision will now bring a measure of justice and finality.”
Ritzer’s family released a statement in October when the SJC heard Chism’s appeal.
“For more than a decade, we have fought tirelessly for justice for Colleen, but there can never truly be justice for the life that was stolen from us,” Ritzer’s family said. “Colleen and our family will not be afforded a second chance. If we live in a just society, neither should he.”