Sheffield
Nova Scotia
New York
The Netherlands
Melbourne
The jury in the murder trial of an Iowa teenager heard on Wednesday a disturbing 911 call in which the 13-year-old suspect admitted to killing his own mother after a failed attempt to rape her.
Crooks, who is now 14, was charged with first-degree murder and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse in the March 24, 2012, slaying of his mother, 37-year-old Gretchen Crooks.
In the 911 recording made on the night of the murder at the family's Osage home, Noah Crooks could be heard telling dispatcher Barb Michael: 'I’m not joking at all. She’s dead. I’m scared. I killed my mom with my .22. I don’t know why I did it.'
Noah rambled on about his mother making him homemade doughnuts earlier that night and expressed disbelief that he killed her after she did that for him.
He then revealed that Gretchen Crooks had taken away his 'Call of Duty' video game because he got bad grades in school, and that is when he snapped.
'Something just came over me,' he told the dispatcher.
The boy droned on about having to move away and giving up on his dreams of getting into a good college and marrying his eighth-grade girlfriend.
On the first day of Crooks' trial Wednesday, jurors also heard testimony from Mitchell County Sheriff’s Deputies Jeff Huftalin and Greg Halbach, who described the crime scene at 3599 Cameo Avenue, WCF Courier reported.
Gretchen Crooks' bullet-riddled body was found stretched out on a coach. Her pajama top was undone and she was naked from the waist down, Halbach said in court. The woman was not breathing.
The deputies seized the murder weapon, a .22 caliber rifle, which was lying across a chair in the dining room.
Halbach said that he slapped handcuffs on Noah's wrists and placed him in the patrol car. He added that the teenage suspect was not crying and did not appear emotional.
Noah Crooks' attorney is not denying that his client killed his mother, but he claims that the boy suffered what he referred to as a 'tumor of rage, ‘rendering him insane at the time of the slaying
Addressing the jury panel, the lawyer said that a child psychiatrist will testify that Crooks suffers from intermittent explosive disorder - a mental illness marked by repeated episodes of impulsive, aggressive or violent behavior.
Mr Crooks added that the mother and son would fight often, but later make up and play games together. She was the one who bought the .22 caliber Ruger as a present for Noah in 2010 when he was about 11 years old.
The father said that his son did once say that he wanted to kill his mother, but he didn't take the threat seriously.
There was no history of domestic abuse or criminal records associated with any Crooks family members.
On March 24, 2012, Crooks is believed to have fired a .22 caliber at his mother at their rural home. The teen was said to be calm and emotionless when he called 911 reporting the shooting.
Crooks, who is now 14, was charged with first-degree murder and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse in the March 24, 2012, slaying of his mother, 37-year-old Gretchen Crooks.
In the 911 recording made on the night of the murder at the family's Osage home, Noah Crooks could be heard telling dispatcher Barb Michael: 'I’m not joking at all. She’s dead. I’m scared. I killed my mom with my .22. I don’t know why I did it.'
Noah rambled on about his mother making him homemade doughnuts earlier that night and expressed disbelief that he killed her after she did that for him.
He then revealed that Gretchen Crooks had taken away his 'Call of Duty' video game because he got bad grades in school, and that is when he snapped.
'Something just came over me,' he told the dispatcher.
The boy droned on about having to move away and giving up on his dreams of getting into a good college and marrying his eighth-grade girlfriend.
On the first day of Crooks' trial Wednesday, jurors also heard testimony from Mitchell County Sheriff’s Deputies Jeff Huftalin and Greg Halbach, who described the crime scene at 3599 Cameo Avenue, WCF Courier reported.
Gretchen Crooks' bullet-riddled body was found stretched out on a coach. Her pajama top was undone and she was naked from the waist down, Halbach said in court. The woman was not breathing.
The deputies seized the murder weapon, a .22 caliber rifle, which was lying across a chair in the dining room.
Halbach said that he slapped handcuffs on Noah's wrists and placed him in the patrol car. He added that the teenage suspect was not crying and did not appear emotional.
Noah Crooks' attorney is not denying that his client killed his mother, but he claims that the boy suffered what he referred to as a 'tumor of rage, ‘rendering him insane at the time of the slaying
Addressing the jury panel, the lawyer said that a child psychiatrist will testify that Crooks suffers from intermittent explosive disorder - a mental illness marked by repeated episodes of impulsive, aggressive or violent behavior.
Mr Crooks added that the mother and son would fight often, but later make up and play games together. She was the one who bought the .22 caliber Ruger as a present for Noah in 2010 when he was about 11 years old.
The father said that his son did once say that he wanted to kill his mother, but he didn't take the threat seriously.
There was no history of domestic abuse or criminal records associated with any Crooks family members.
On March 24, 2012, Crooks is believed to have fired a .22 caliber at his mother at their rural home. The teen was said to be calm and emotionless when he called 911 reporting the shooting.
