The man police say shot a Wesleyan University coed to death wrote "Kill Johanna. She must Die" and "I think it's ok to kill Jews and go on a killing spree" in his journal and left it at the crime scene, according to an arrest warrant.
Stephen Morgan, 29, was charged with one count of murder and made his first court appearance Friday in the killing of 21-year-old Johanna Justin-Jinich — whom he allegedly shot dead on Wednesday while she was working at a bookstore cafe near campus.
A lawyer for Morgan said his client will plead not guilty. Morgan denies targeting "the Wesleyan campus or anyone else," his attorney said.
The warrant says Middletown, Conn., police found Morgan's journal at the scene, along with a wig he allegedly wore during the shooting and a gun.
His father described him as a loner who kept a diary and was known to make anti-Semitic comments, according to the warrant.
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Justin-Jinich, of Timnath, Colorado, came from a Jewish family, and her grandmother was a Holocaust survivor.
from the New York Times:
She was a disciplined, fearless young woman of great promise, a Wesleyan University junior with a passion for women’s health issues. He was apparently disturbed, a man with shaky relationships and a malevolence toward Jews, threatening them and others on the campus in Middletown, Conn., in a journal he kept.
The lives of Johanna Justin-Jinich, 21, and Stephen P. Morgan, 29, had intersected briefly — and ominously — two years ago, when both attended a summer course at New York University. He called repeatedly and sent 38 harassing e-mail messages. The university and the police were notified, but he had left town and she declined to press charges.
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As family, friends and the Wesleyan community mourned the slain woman and investigators sought to unveil the motivations and recent movements of the fugitive, the authorities in Middletown warned of a dangerous and possibly armed man on the loose, and urged university officials and Jewish residents of Middletown to take precautions.
Wesleyan, a private liberal arts school with about 3,000 students, went into lockdown. All classes had been finished for the year by Tuesday and students were studying for finals. The campus was all but deserted.
At the behest of Mayor Sebastian Giuliano and Police Chief Lynn M. Baldoni, Congregation Adath Israel, a Conservative Jewish congregation and Middletown’s only synagogue, located a block from the bookstore, was closed on Thursday. Its president, Eliot Meadow, said congregants were considering holding Sabbath services at another location or just hiring extra security.
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She attended a Quaker boarding-preparatory school, the Westtown School. John Baird, headmaster of the school, which was founded by the Quakers in 1799 in rural southeastern Pennsylvania, said Ms. Justin-Jinich enrolled in 2002 and graduated in 2006. She lived in Mexico as part of an exchange program in her junior year. Her mother, Ingrid, also graduated from Westtown, in 1971, as did her uncle Eric, the headmaster said.
“Johanna was respected for her original thinking and willingness to delve deeply into a variety of subjects,” Mr. Baird said.
At Wesleyan, where she enrolled in 2006, Ms. Justin-Jinich was described by friends as intellectual and passionate about her studies, pursuing a double major, one in Iberian studies and an interdisciplinary major in history, philosophy and literature. She quoted Nietzsche, Epicurus and Rousseau, and was a fan of the Chilean writer-politician Pablo Neruda and the Spanish poet Rafael Alberti Merello, they said. One friend said her summer plans included an internship in Washington with an organization focusing on women’s issues.
“She had planned to pursue a life of helping people, which was true to her personality and character,” said Leah Lucid, a close friend who was to have roomed with her next semester.
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Morgan walked into the bookstore about 1 p.m. Wednesday, then toward the Red and Black Cafe, where Ms. Justin-Jinich worked. He was a menacing figure, described as 6-feet-tall and wearing glasses by Susan Gerdhart, 22, who was paying for a salad when she heard four loud pops.When Ms. Gerdhart turned, she said she saw smoke in the air and bullet casings on the ground. The victim was on the ground, according to Ms. Gerdhart’s statement to the police. She then looked at the suspect, who was looking down, and he fired three more shots, according to the warrant.
photos of Johanna Justin-Jinich:
from the Wesleying website:
from the New York Daily News:
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