New details released in Penn High School plot

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New details released in Penn High School plot

Tribune File Photo/Margarita Bilbrey

By Jim Pinkerton

CLEVELAND (AP) — A teenager accused of plotting with an Ohio man to carry out Columbine-style attacks wrote that he wanted to get "instant recognition" for shooting a record number of people in an attack at his school, according to documents unsealed Tuesday.

A black spiral notebook authorities obtained from the 16-year-old's locker at Penn High School in Mishawaka contained handwritten entries in which the teen expressed his hatred for most of the people at the school.

"I wanna break the current shooting record. I wanna get instant recognition. The only thing that stops me is the fact of being put in jail forever, or having to kill myself, or getting killed by an officer. I could kill anyone without feeling sorry because society sucks!!!" read an entry dated April 18, four days before he was arrested.

The teenager has been charged with a juvenile count of conspiracy to commit murder. Authorities said he exchanged e-mails with Lee Billi of suburban Cleveland in April, discussing simultaneous mass murders at the teen's high school and at another location that police haven't identified.

A search warrant affidavit filed to obtain a judge's approval to search Billi's computer and disks was unsealed Tuesday.

According to the documents, the Indiana teenager told authorities his violent thoughts began when his girlfriend broke up with him.

He chatted online with Billi about obtaining "party favors," a code name for guns and bombs, the documents say. He told authorities he did not have access to any weapons and thought he went too far with his online postings.

An entry in the teen's notebook dated April 21, a Monday, reads: "Throughout the weekend me and a friend of mine are planning something catastrophic. I am not sure if he is for real or not about it. He says he has been planning for sometime now. We picked September 11th, because its already iconic."

A message seeking comment was left after business hours Tuesday at the office of the teen's lawyer, James Nafe of South Bend.

Billi, 33, of Lakewood, was arrested April 24 and has pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, 38 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and one count of possessing criminal tools.

A computer was removed from Billi's home along with computer disks, papers, books and three partial boxes of handgun ammunition, authorities said.

The Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office says child pornography had been downloaded onto Billi's computer and saved onto computer disks. Prosecutors say Billi had looked up dates of gun shows where he could buy guns several days before his April arrest.

Authorities said the plot was detected when a school officer investigating an unrelated threat at the teen's school discovered Internet postings in which the teen discussed his support for the Columbine shooters, who killed 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide at a suburban Denver high school in 1999.

Authorities said they found more than 100 knives and several illegal snakes at the teen's home in South Bend.

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