Mass. teen charged in fatal school stabbing set to go to trial with insanity defense

Trial in Mass. fatal school stabbing to begin

BOSTON — The trial of a teenager charged with fatally stabbing another student in a Massachusetts high school is getting under way.

Jury selection in John Odgren’s murder trial is scheduled to start Tuesday in Middlesex Superior Court.

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

Defense attorneys are expected to argue that Odgren, now 19, was legally insane at the time of the slaying. They cite Asperger’s syndrome, an autism-like disorder, plus attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression and anxiety.

Prosecutors say Odgren had a history of threatening students at all the schools he attended and knew what he was doing.