Johanna Justin-Jinich ’10 was remembered in a memorial vigil this afternoon. At least several hundred students, faculty, staff, and community members came together in a giant circle behind Usdan to grieve and mourn Johanna’s death.
Thoughts of Johanna also figured prominently at Middletown’s annual Day of Prayer ceremony:
Residents and officials joined in council chambers in city hall for the annual noontime ceremony. It was initially scheduled outside on the grounds, as is tradition, but was moved inside due to wet weather.
Somber thoughts and entreaties were given for Justin-Jinich, the 21-year-old Wesleyan junior who was shot to death in the Red & Black Café inside Broad Street Books Wednesday.
As campus life begins its slow and painful return to normalcy, new details have continued to emerge following Stephen Morgan’s arraignment today in Middlesex Superior Court.
The New York Times reports that Superior Court Judge Mary-Margaret Burgdorff has raised Morgan’s bail to $15 million and demanded that he surrender his passport should he post bail. The Times reports that Morgan “stood expressionless” in handcuffs and a violet jumpsuit as he was charged with first-degree murder:
As the judge read Mr. Morgan his legal rights in the five-minute arraignment, Mr. Morgan nodded but said nothing. He bowed his head, blinked, but expressed no emotion. He had a beard and a mustache and his hair, balding in the back, was unkempt.
His father and mother, James F. and Maureen Morgan of Marblehead, Mass., were in the courtroom, along with one of their daughters. As Mr. Morgan was led from the room, his father waved and Mr. Morgan raised his head to look at him, appearing to open his mouth but saying nothing.
Several videos of the arraignment are available at WFSB.
The arrest warrant affidavit (available via WFSB) contains extensive details related to Wednesday’s tragedy, including Morgan’s escape from Broad Street Books. James Morgan, the suspect’s father, says his son was “a loner, quiet, not having many friends.”
More details from Morgan’s journal were released. In one entry, he wrote that it was OK to kill Jews and go on a killing spree around campus. Another entry reads, “Kill Johanna. She must Die.” In another, dated about two hours before the murder, he mentions “seeing all of the beautiful and smart people at Wes.”
Morgan is set to appear in court again on May 19.
A shocking account of the scene inside Broad Street Books on Wednesday, taken from the affidavit, is also included in the New York Times article, and can be found after the jump.
There was no way to foresee the sudden, nightmarish sequel. Mr. Morgan walked into the bookstore about 1 p.m. Wednesday, then toward the Red and Black Cafe, where Ms. Justin-Jinich worked. He was a menacing figure, described as 6-feet-tall and wearing glasses by Susan Gerdhart, 22, who was paying for a salad when she heard four loud pops.When Ms. Gerdhart turned, she said she saw smoke in the air and bullet casings on the ground. The victim was on the ground, according to Ms. Gerdhart’s statement to the police. She then looked at the suspect, who was looking down, and he fired three more shots, according to the warrant. He escaped by way of a conveyer belt that led to the basement, according to the manager of the bookstore, Steven Hebenstriet, who was standing there.
The gunman did a summersault off the belt and pointed his handgun at Mr. Hebenstriet. “Don’t say anything or I’ll shoot,” Mr. Morgan is quoted in the warrant.
He then left the bookstore through double swinging doors.