Judge: Jail recordings can be used at murder trial of Mass. teen accused of in-school stabbing

Jailhouse audio OK’d for Mass. teen’s murder trial

WOBURN, Mass. — A Massachusetts judge has ruled that prosecutors can use the recorded jailhouse conversations of a teenager charged with fatally stabbing another student at a high school.

Middlesex Superior Court Judge Jane Haggerty said Wednesday that John Odgren is a smart teenager who knew the calls to his parents were being monitored and had no reason to doubt prosecutors would not try to gain access to their conversations.

Odgren was 16 when we allegedly stabbed 15-year-old James Alenson in a bathroom at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in January 2007.

Odgren’s lawyers were disappointed with the decision. They say he suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism, and had the right to privacy.

His first-degree murder trial starts Tuesday.