Laurie Dann

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Laurie Wasserman Dann (c. 1958 - 20 May 1988) was an American murderer. She shot and killed a boy and injured other five children in a school in Winnetka, Illinois, then taking hostage and injuring a man before killing herself.

Contents

[edit] History

Dann grew up in Glencoe, an affluent northern suburb of Chicago, the daughter of accountant Norman and Edith Wasserman.
In 1985 Dann was suspected of attacking her husband Russell Dann in his sleep, by stabbing him in the chest with an icepick. The case was dropped, and the couple divorced in the same year. In 1985 she also began to make threatening phone calls to an ex-boyfriend from the 1970s.[1]
Dann was mentally ill and followed by a psychiatrist. She was known for eccentric behaviour, including riding the elevators in her apartment building for hours.[1] Subsequent blood tests revealed that Dann was using anafranil, generically known as clomipramine at the time of her killings.[2] Despite her psychiatric difficulties, Dann worked as a babysitter and her employers were happy with the care she provided their children.[1]
Dann's behaviour became increasingly bizarre, and her phone calls to her ex-boyfriend escalated to a death threat in May 1988. Fearing reprisals, he would not press charges without evidence of similar calls to others.[1] Shortly before going on the shooting spree, she delivered marshmallow and rice cereal snacks tainted with arsenic to Alpha Tau Omega and Psi Upsilon fraternity houses at Northwestern University in Evanston. Several students were treated for poisoning.[1] She also delivered fruit drinks to six families for whom she babysat. The drinks contained arsenic and one girl became ill, though not seriously. Attached to a delivery to a family was a note: "Love your little sisters. Enjoy."[3]

On 20 May 1988, the 30-year-old Dann set fire to a house where she had worked as a babysitter, briefly trapping the mother and her two children.[4] She then walked into a second-grade classroom at Hubbard Woods School in Winnetka, Illinois carrying three pistols.[3] She began shooting, killing eight-year-old Nicholas Corwin, wounding two girls and three boys before fleeing.[1][4]

Dann then entered a nearby house where she shot and wounded a 20-year-old man, and then killed herself.[1]

[edit] References in popular culture

In his book "The Myth of Male Power", author Warren Farrell suggested Laurie Dann's actions were an example of women's violence against men. He claimed, erroneously, that Dann's targets had only been boys and men, and that she had burned down a Young Men's Jewish Council, burned two boys in a basement, shot her own son and had alleged that an eight-year had raped her.[5] Men's rights activists have repeated the errors.[6]

A made-for-TV movie, Murder of Innocence, was broadcast by CBS on November 30, 1993. The movie was based on the book of the same name by Eric Zorn, but the names of the characters were changed. Valerie Bertinelli was cast as Laurie Wade, a character based on Laurie Dann.

The American death metal band Macabre wrote and recorded a song about Dann, titled "Hey Laurie Dann". It was recorded on the Gloom album.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g AP. "Police Still Unraveling Trail Left by Woman in Rampage", New York Times, 1988-05-22. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
  2. ^ Gibson, Ray. "Winnetka Killer Treated With Psychiatric Drug", Chicago Tribune, 1988-06-02. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
  3. ^ a b AP. "Woman sent poisoned snacks before school shooting spree", Toronto Star, 1988-05-22. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Hunt, Maria, Robert Enstad Steve Johnson, Maria Hunt, Ray Gibson, Dennis Odom, David Ibata and Joel Kaplan. "Scared Town Comforts Families - Special Services Soothe The Pain in Winnetka", Chicago Tribune, 1988-05-23. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
  5. ^ Farrell, Warren (1993). The Myth of Male Power. New York: Berkley Books, p. 216. ISBN 978-0425181447. 
  6. ^ Equal Parents of Canada (1998-03-31). Brief to the Special Joint Committee on Child Custody and Access. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/a/u/Laurie_Dann_9cc7.html"