Agent: S.C. teen accused in school plot wanted to kill Jesus

By Jamie Rogers
Morning News Reporter
Published: April 30, 2008

FLORENCE — The Mount Croghan teen accused of plotting to blow up his high school told investigators that he wanted to die, go to heaven and kill Jesus, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent testified Tuesday.

U.S. Magistrate Thomas E. Rogers heard attorneys’ arguments as well as testimony during a hearing to decide if 18-year-old Ryan Schallenberger would undergo a mental evaluation.

Schallenberger is charged with attempting to use explosives on a building that gets federal funding, using interstate commerce to obtain explosives to be used against people and property, and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. A conviction on the latter charge carries a possible life sentence.

The charges stem from what authorities say was a scheme to detonate explosives in a suicide attack on Chesterfield High School.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rose Mary Parham and Alfred W. Bethea Jr. are prosecuting the case. They filed a motion requesting a competency evaluation for Schallenberger after defense attorneys Mike Meetze and Bill Nettles did not do so.

Parham said prosecutors filed the motion to protect the case from any errors that could be made later.

“It’s our job to protect the case and to have done what needs to be done,” she said.

After reviewing Schallenberger’s journal and the statements he made to Chesterfield County sheriff’s deputies, it’s clear he needs a mental evaluation, Parham said.

ATF Agent Craig Townsend testified that Schallenberger told deputies during an interview all he wanted to do is die, go to heaven and, when he got there, kill Jesus.

Schallenberger’s journals and calls made by his mother and step father to E-911 on April 17 and 19 all reflected that he was a very angry man who intended to take his own life and the lives of others, Parham said.

Prosectors played a recording of 911 call made by Schallenberger’s mother during the hearing. They intended to play the recording of the 911 call made by his stepfather, as well as an audio tape Schallenberger intended to be heard after his death, but with withdrew them after Nettles objected.

Investigators found papers that showed Schallenberger started testing several explosive devices as early as April 2007, Townsend said.

Schallenberger then made a list with notes indicating whether he liked them, Townsend said.

Townsend also testified that Schallenberger brought 20 pounds of ammonium nitrate through eBay from a gun enthusiast in Kentucky.

The seller also sent information about using the chemical to make exploding targets, which could be detonated with a single bullet, Townsend said.

Schallenberger’s parents received a noticed in the mail about the package April 19 and retrieved it from the post office before turning it over to deputies.

Nettles told Rogers he agrees Schallenberger is angry and troubled, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t competent to assist in his own defense and understand the nature of the proceedings.

“It’s clear to us that he is competent at this time ...we’ve got no information that would lead us to believe that he isn’t competent,” Nettles said.

The defense attorneys might have their client evaluated later, but that’s up to Schallenberger’s legal counsel, not Parham and Bethea, to decide, Nettles said.

“For the life of me, I do not see the urgency in the matter being decided this week or next week,” Nettles said. “ ... The point of the matter is that it’s very premature.”

Nettles said he and Meetze haven’t even had the chance to review all the elements of the case.

They might pursue an insanity defense, but haven’t decided because they’ve only been involved with the case 10 days, Nettles said.

Prosectors are considering filing a motion to evaluate Schallenberger for insanity, Parham said.

Rogers is expected to decide this week whether Schallenberger will be subjected to a mental evaluation.

If Rogers rules in the favor of the prosecution, Schallenberger will be sent to a facility within the Federal Bureau of Prisons where he will be closely monitored, decreasing Schallenberger’s chances of taking his own life, Parham said.

Schallenberger is being held in the Chesterfield County jail because he faces a state charge of possession of incendiary devices.

He previously was held at the Florence County Detention Center in Effingham after state and federal hearings last week.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Bethea told Rogers that Schallenberger needs to be in a facility like Butner in North Carolina “and not bounced around from one county jail to another.”

Circuit Court Judge Mark Hayes decline to issue Schallenberger a unsecured bond last week, Parham said.

If Hayes had issued an unsecured bond, it would have automatically put Schallenberger in federal custody, which is what federal prosecutors are seeking, Parham said.

Federal prosecutors also were hoping 4th Circuit Solicitor Jay Hodge would dismiss the state charge against Schallenberger, which in turn would have led to his being turned over to the federal government, Parham said.

Hodge said in a telephone interview late last week he doesn’t plan to drop state charge.

Hodge, who is retiring when his term as solicitor ends this year, said if the state Schallenberger case comes to state court after he is gone, he hopes his successor will dispose of it in the proper manner.