10 Times Horrible Students Faced Justice

10 Times Horrible Students Faced Justice

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re examining 10 Times Horrible Students Faced Justice.

For this list, we’ll be looking at infamous moments of students who committed evil acts against fellow pupils or faculty staff and received major legal repercussions.

What was your school or college’s biggest story while you attended there? Let us know below.

Colton Pitonyak & Laura Hall

In August 2005, Jennifer Cave was excited. After attending two Texan colleges before dropping out, she’d just started a job at a legal firm and was going to celebrate one night. But after she failed to show up for work the next day, her remains were found in the apartment belonging to her friend, Colton Pitonyak. However, the University of Texas at Austin student had fled to Mexico along with his ex-girlfriend Laura Hall. Regardless, they were soon tracked down by the authorities. In 2007, Pitonyak was convicted for Cave’s slaying, earning himself fifty-five years in jail, while Hall received six years for tampering with evidence. However, after a resentencing, in 2010, she received eleven years and was released in 2018.

Brandon Theesfeld

In 2019, a patrolling deputy came across a horrible scene at an old fishing camp at Sardis Lake, Mississippi, finding the body of Alexandria Kostial. As the police began the investigation, the name of Kostial’s fellow University of Mississippi student and romantic interest, Brandon Theesfeld, came up multiple times. Previously, Kostial had informed him about an inclusive pregnancy test, and Theesfeld wasn’t happy, as evidenced by his texts. He avoided meeting her for a long time. Then, one night, Theesfeld took Kostial to the camp and shot her multiple times. Later, it was discovered that Kostial wasn’t pregnant. In 2021, Theesfeld pleaded guilty and received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

George Huguely

On the surface, Yeardley Love and George Huguely appeared to be a good match. The couple attended the University of Virginia and played for the Cavaliers lacrosse teams. But weeks before they graduated in 2010, with the relationship over, Love’s body was found in her apartment. After hearing accounts of Huguely’s drinking issues, rage about the breakup, he was brought in for questioning. In 2012, Huguely was found guilty of Love’s murder and sentenced to twenty-three years in jail. In 2022, Huguely faced a wrongful death lawsuit from Love’s family. The jury ruled against Huguely, and he had to pay $15 million in damages.

Philip Chism

In 2013, teenager Philip Chism, a pupil at Danvers High School in Massachusetts, was asked to stay behind by math teacher Colleen Ritzer. But when she left the classroom to use the restroom, Chism followed. There, he fatally attacked and assaulted her. Multiple times he left the scene to get rid of evidence and change his clothing. At one point, Chism returned with a wheelie bin. He placed Ritzer inside and left her body in the woods. He even stole her credit cards and used them. Chism was arrested soon after, and his bag filled with evidence was discovered. In 2016, being tried as an adult, Chism was sentenced to life in prison.

Theodore Streleski

In 1978, graduate mathematics student Theodore Streleski had been working on his Ph.D. for nineteen years at Stanford University with his facility advisor Professor Karel de Leeuw. But then, he walked into de Leeuw’s office and fatally attacked him with a ball-peen hammer. Afterward, Streleski attempted to justify his actions by claiming he did it to protest how the university treated its students. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. After getting out in 1985 and being readmitted for breaking parole conditions, Streleski spoke to the press and told them he had no remorse for what he did. When asked about committing a similar offense, he responded, “I can’t predict the future.”

Frederick Martin Davidson

In 1996, Frederick Martin Davidson was called to a meeting to defend his master’s engineering thesis at San Diego State University. With the room containing three students as witnesses and three associate and assistant professors, the hearing had barely started when Davidson approached the first aid box and pulled out a firearm he had stashed there previously. Letting the students leave, Davidson fatally shot Chen Liang, O. Preston Lowrey III, and Constantinos Lyrintzis before giving himself up to the police. He reportedly believed the engineering department was against him, and that’s why they’d rejected his thesis once before. In 1997, as part of a plea deal to avoid capital punishment, Davidson received three consecutive life sentences without the chance of parole.

Zhu Haiyang

In January 2009, Yang Xin moved from China to study for a master’s at Virginia Tech. Looking to settle in, she reached out to other Chinese students at the university and met doctoral student Zhu Haiyang. In a short amount of time, he became obsessed with her. One day, after Zhu admitted his feelings, Yang turned him down as she was dating someone and planned to marry him. With the rejection, Zhu wrote an obsessive letter in his dorm. The following evening, Zhu met Yang at a cafe on campus. He viciously attacked her in public with a knife, causing her demise only two weeks after she arrived at the school. Zhu pleaded guilty to murder and received a life sentence in 2010.

Timur Bekmansurov

In 2021, staff and students at Perm State University in Russia were going about their days. But then, Timur Bekmansurov, who had planned something horrible, approached the grounds with a firearm. Beforehand, he spoke on social media with threats and dreams of committing horrendous violence. During his rampage, Bekmansurov fatally shot six and injured forty-seven as people did their best to escape and protect themselves. After a shootout with the police, Bekmansurov was injured - so much so that he lost half his leg, but he survived. In 2022, Bekmansurov pled guilty to the attack but asked not to get life imprisonment; the court ignored his request.

Josoph Henry

In 1986, Jeanne Clery slept in her dormitory at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. However, she was woken as fellow student Josoph Henry was in the process of stealing from her and her roommate. Henry proceeded to attack, assault, and fatally strangle Clery. In 1987, Henry was sentenced to capital punishment for his brutal crime. In 2002, after the execution sentence was thrown out, Henry agreed to forgo appeals in exchange for a life sentence. After this grim crime, Clery’s family was angry that the university had hidden the rising crime wave around them. They petitioned to have universities participate in a program where they have to disclose crime statistics on and around their campuses. This is now known as the Clery Act.

Joseph M. Mesa Jr.

In 2000, Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, a school for those with hearing impairments, was rocked by the brutal slaying of student Eric Plunkett in his dorm room. On top of this, cash and debit cards were taken. In 2001, another student, Benjamin Varner, was viciously stabbed and robbed. Not long after, student Joseph M. Mesa Jr., a friend to both, handed himself in to police for the slayings. Mesa found himself in court in 2002. After pleading not guilty due to insanity, and seeing that rejected, Mesa was sentenced to two life terms without parole.