Man Convicted In 2007 Lincoln-Sudbury High School Murder Seeks Parole

SUDBURY, MA — The man convicted of killing a classmate inside Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School nearly 20 years ago went before the state's parole board on Tuesday.

John Odgren, 36, was scheduled for an initial life-sentence hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Natick, according to the Massachusetts Parole Board calendar. Odgren was 16 when he killed 15-year-old James Alenson in a school bathroom on Jan. 19, 2007, Patch previously reported.

Odgren brought a kitchen knife to school that morning and stabbed Alenson after encountering him in a bathroom, according to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s 2019 decision. Alenson died from wounds to his heart, lung and liver, the court said.

Odgren admitted to the killing but argued at trial that he lacked criminal responsibility because mental illnesses caused a temporary psychotic state, according to the court decision. Three defense experts testified that his mental condition prevented him from understanding or controlling his conduct, while a prosecution expert testified that he remained capable of understanding that his actions were wrong.

A jury then convicted Odgren in 2010 of first-degree murder under theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty, according to the SJC. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole, Patch reported.

Then, in 2019, the SJC rejected Odgren’s request for a new trial or a reduced verdict. His appeal challenged the trial judge’s jury instructions and the admission of recorded conversations from his pretrial detention.

Odgren later became eligible for parole because of the SJC’s 2013 Diatchenko ruling. The court found that life-without-parole sentences are unconstitutional for people who committed first-degree murder before age 18 and required affected prisoners to receive parole hearings after serving 15 years.

A decision in Odgren’s case had not been posted on the Parole Board’s public life-sentence decisions page as of Tuesday afternoon.

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