Isaac Grimes is in the news for murdering his best friend Tony Dutcher when he was only a freshman in high school, claiming now that he was brainwashed by a senior student named Simon Sue.
Grimes spins a tale that seems incredible: as a lonely 15 year old, he fell victim to Sue’s charisma and his own innate need to belong. Sue offered Grimes membership in his “club”, the O.A.R.A., or the Operations and Reconnaissance Agents, which he ran as though it were a paramilitary organization. Over time, Sue “forced” Grimes to do increasingly uncomfortable things like eat and drink until he vomited, and participate in burglaries, as a test of his loyalty.
The final test came when Sue told Grimes to kill his best friend. Grimes cut his throat and Dutcher’s grandparents were found shot dead in their home. There is more and conflicting evidence in this sordid story that might tell a different story, but the one bit that stands out to me is this quote from Grimes’ mother: “One time I had said, ‘you know, Simon’s a senior — why is he hanging out with you?’ And he said because ‘I’m smart.’”
There is a book by security specialist Gavin De Becker called “The Gift of Fear”, in which he recounts many stories of victims of violence, and they invariably include a statement similar to “I had a weird feeling about the guy, but thought I was just being silly.” Donna Grimes had an intuitive flash that told her something wasn’t right, but she didn’t act on her feelings.
Parents, learn to listen to your instincts. You may sometimes feel that you’re being overprotective or smothering, but if something feels wrong, you owe it to yourself and your child to do something about it. Isn’t your kid’s safety the most important thing? Get between your child and danger any way you possibly can; that’s something you’ll never regret.
