SALEM, Massachusetts – A jury Tuesday convicted a Massachusetts teenager of raping and murdering his high school math teacher in a case notorious for its savagery and the young defendant.

Philip Chism showed no emotion over the verdict, staring straight ahead. His mother, Diana Chism, doubled over as if in pain.

The victim’s parents were also in the courtroom. They appeared relieved.  

The jury of eight men and four women found Chism guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated rape and armed robbery in the gruesome death of teacher Colleen Ritzer, 24, more than two years ago at Danvers, Massachusetts, High School.  Chism was 14 at the time. He was acquitted of a second aggravated rape charge.

Tom Ritzer, the victim’s father, thanked the jury for its “fair and careful consideration” of the case.  “There never can be true justice for the crime” that took his daughter’s life, he said.

Defense attorneys admitted at the outset of the trial two months ago that Chism killed Ritzer, but they said he did so in a psychotic state and argued for his acquittal by reason of insanity.

Prosecutors said Chism carefully planned the attack, bringing a change of clothes, a hooded sweatshirt, a mask and a box cutter to school the day of the murder on Oct. 23, 2013. They said he changed clothes after school, then followed Ritzer into the girls bathroom, where he brutally raped, strangled and stabbed her, then carted her body outside in a trash barrel to a wooded area, where he further assaulted her.

The victim’s parents contacted authorities when she did not return home that evening.  Ritzer’s body, naked from the waist down, was found covered with leaves. A note near her body read, “I hate you all.”   

Chism was reported missing by his mother when he did not show up for a ride home from soccer practice. Police located him around midnight walking along a highway. They said he possessed a bloody box cutter, women’s underwear and several credits cards belonging to the victim.

Tried as an adult, Chism can be sentenced to life in prison. But recent federal and state court decisions regarding juveniles charged with capital crimes will spare him from spending the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole.

Legal experts said he could be eligible for parole in 15 to 25 years, depending if the judge sentences him to concurrent or consecutive prison terms on the murder, rape and robbery convictions.

The victim’s father told reporters the family has suffered greatly from the grisly details of the murder case, but that it is braced for an extended appeal process.

“We will honor her legacy and be her voice during the continued judicial process,” he said. “Colleen never gave up and neither will we.”