Trial starting in murder of 15-year-old in Sudbury high school

By Globe Staff

WOBURN -- Jury selection begins today in the first-degree murder trial of John Odgren, who was a gangly 16-year-old when he allegedly stabbed to death James F. Alenson inside a high school bathroom in 2007.

James F. Alenson (Family Photo)

Alenson was just 15 years old, a slightly-built freshman, who did not know Odgren until their chance meeting in the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School on Jan. 19, 2007.

Jonathan Shapiro and Patricia Garin, Odgren's attorneys, are building their defense around the fact that their client was special education student who had been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism, and attention deficit disorder.

The defense is expected to tell jurors in Middlesex Superior Court that Odgren's mental status left him unable to conform to the societal rules of behavior, especially when considering committing violent acts.

But prosecutors in Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.'s office are planning to rely on Odgren's own words, and his alleged fascination with video games and horror fiction, as they paint a picture of a ruthless teen who was in full control of himself at the time.