Joseph Nee

Passions

Family

American youth accused of plotting a Columbine-style massacre at his high school. Nee was arrested on October 18, 2004 after his friend and accused co-plotter identified Nee as a participant in the assault plan. On October 21, 2004, Nee was ordered jailed without bail and was led away in shackles, with tears running down his face. He pleaded not guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit mass murder and one count of promoting anarchy. In September, Nee had informed police about the plot before it occurred and pointed at his friend Tobin Kerns. Kerns was arrested September 17, 2004 Police found two maps of the high school and evidence on his computer that he had been shopping for knives, as well as evidence that Kerns had been setting off explosives in the area. Nee's father is a policeman and head of Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, who originally defended his son as innocent. However, after a police press conference, two dozen witnesses came forward and implicated Nee in the plot. Nee was then arrested, with investigators believing that both boys were "equally culpable and equally dangerous." One of the witnesses said that Nee and Kerns told them that if their school assault plan failed, they had another plan to sneak into the homes of certain students and teachers and "cut their throats while they were sleeping." One young girl told police that Nee had pulled a handgun from under his coat in June, saying "Isn't this cool?" He was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. On February 19, 2008, he was sentenced to two and a half years with nine months to serve and two years probation