Teen sentenced to 111 years for Oregon school shooting

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Nov 11, 1999 by JEFF BARNARD AP

Kip Kinkel

By JEFF BARNARD

The Associated Press

EUGENE, Ore. --- Kip Kinkel, the 17-year-old who filled his journal with rage, self-loathing and fantasies of violence, was sentenced to 111 years in prison Wednesday for gunning down his parents and going on a rampage in his high school cafeteria that left two students dead.

Kinkel won't be entitled to parole, meaning unless the governor commutes his sentence, he will die behind bars for the attack at Thurston High School in Springfield.

After hearing days of wrenching statements from victims' relatives and many of the 25 people wounded, Judge Jack Mattison said it was more important to make the victims feel safe than to try to rehabilitate Kinkel.

Before the sentence was issued, Kinkel read an apology from a small sheet of white paper.

"I absolutely loved my parents and had no reason to kill them. I had no reason to dislike or try to kill anyone at Thurston. I am truly sorry for all of this," he said.

He stood with his hands clasped in front of him as the judge gave him what amounts to a life sentence. Kinkel was 15 when he went on the shooting spree in May 1998 and therefore ineligible for the death penalty.

Many victims said they were satisfied with the sentence and hoped someday to get on with their lives.

"I am so glad Kip Kinkel will be put behind the bars," said Teresa Miltonberger, who nearly died after being shot in the head. "If he wasn't, I wouldn't feel safe."

Kinkel's attorneys said the sentence is too harsh and they plan to appeal.

After being expelled from school for having a stolen gun in his locker, Kinkel killed his parents at their home May 20, 1998. The next day he donned a trenchcoat and drove to school with three guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition and opened fire on the packed cafeteria. Mikael Nickolauson and Ben Walker were killed.

Kinkel later told doctors he had been hearing voices telling him to kill since he was 12. Experts testified he was psychotic, probably paranoid schizophrenic, and deeply depressed.

Kinkel pleaded guilty in September and agreed at the time to serve at least 25 years in prison, plus whatever the judge might add. The judge crafted a combination of concurrent and consecutive sentences that added up to 111 years, eight months.