Brenda Ann Spencer
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| Brenda Ann Spencer | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 3, 1962 San Diego, California, USA |
| Charge(s) | murder, assault with a deadly weapon |
| Penalty | 25 years to life imprisonment |
| Status | Currently imprisoned at California Institution for Women |
| Parents | Wallace Spencer (father), Dot Spencer (mother) Divorced 1972 |
Brenda Ann Spencer (born April 3, 1962) is a convicted American murderer who carried out a shooting spree at Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California on January 29, 1979. Principal Burton Wragg and head custodian Mike Suchar were killed in the attack, while eight children and a police officer sustained wounds. One of the children, who was hit in the hand, talked about the incident on a local radio station.
The school was across the street from Spencer's house, from which she fired the shots. She used a rifle that she had recently been given for her Christmas 1978 by her father. When asked why she went on her rampage, she shrugged and replied, "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day."[1] She also said, "I had no reason for it, and it was just a lot of fun"; "It was just like shooting ducks in a pond"' and "[The children] looked like a herd of cows standing around; it was really easy pickings." At the time of the shootings, Brenda Ann Spencer was 16 years old.[2]
She pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to prison for 25 years to life, currently being served at The California Institution for Women in Chino.[1] She has been eligible for parole four times and has been turned down each time, most recently in 2005. She will be eligible for parole again on August 13th, 2009.[1]
In 2005, she claimed that she was drunk and under the influence of PCP, and that her father, Wallace Spencer, had sexually abused her as a child and that the state and her attorney conspired to hide her drug test results.
Spencer's crime, her perceived lack of remorse, and lack of a serious explanation for her actions when she was captured, inspired the song "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Irish band The Boomtown Rats, written by Bob Geldof.
Her quote, "I Don't Like Mondays," also appears written on a wall in the 1985 movie The Breakfast Club.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Rowe, Peter (2007-10-06). "1979 school shootings inspired boy to teach". SignOnSanDiego.com (online edition of San Diego Union-Tribune) (Union-Tribune Publishing Co). http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071006/news_1n6teacher.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
- ^ http://snopes.com/music/songs/mondays.asp
[edit] External links
- several articles from San Diego Union Tribune
- I Don't Like Mondays, from Internet Movie Database
- The Killing of America, from Internet Movie Database
Coordinates: 32°47′48″N 117°00′42″W / 32.7967175°N 117.0116043°W
