Day two in the John Schultz trial; co-conspirator says both were "serious" about shooting
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Jurors heard testimony yesterday from Schultz's co-conspirator Donald Robin Jr, who pleaded guilty after his July 31, 2020 arrest.
Today, Robin continued his testimony, which was scrutinized by Schultz's legal team, who claimed he inflated Schultz's involvement after he pleaded guilty.
Defense attorney Joseph Bauer called into question Robin's statements made during his deposition, where Robin told Judge A. Christopher Lee that he wasn't bullied as a Rochester High School student, and that he had no intention to harm other kids, which contradicted his statements made yesterday.
But Robin clarified and said he downplayed the bullying out of embarrassment and that when he told Judge Lee he didn't want to harm children, it was because he felt remorse for his actions.
He said "I was strung out, 95 pounds, suicidal and homicidal... I wanted to reform."
Bauer then argued that Robin's testimony had grown over time, and despite talk about these shootings, he said that he and Schultz were not truly serious, even though they googled how to modify clothes and make explosives, and had an interest in the Columbine High School Massacre-- it did not go further than that.
Robin disagreed, saying they became experts on Columbine because they were very serious, and even made "Columbine" their code word for their plan to shoot up a school like Rochester High, and even purchased some of the items they needed.
Robin added that he is not proud of how he acted and has sought help for his mental health while incarcerated.
The jurors also heard testimony from cybercrime expert Mitch Kajzer, with the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office, who extracted data from Robin's phone and a computer the pair used.
Extracted data showed multiple searches for the EDGE School Shooting Simulator, described by Robin as a training program used by first responders to learn how to deal with that scenario.
They also found in the computer's internet history searches on how to modify a trench coat by sewing a holster into it, as well as information on how old you have to be to purchase a gun from a pawn shop-- along with several saved photos of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold-- the pair behind the Columbine Massacre.
It was revealed yesterday to the jury that the pair had searched for information on improvised explosives and how to steal propane.
Kajzer also showed several key words appearing in the computer's data-- "Columbine" appearing 3,807 times, "gun" appearing 7,128 times and "Rochester" 2,445 times. Data pulled from Robin's iPhone showed words like "kill" and "Rochester" show up over five hundred times each.
The Defense noted these terms can appear in the data because they were on a webpage, and not necessarily searched for or written down.
Day three of the trial is set for tomorrow; Judge A. Christopher Lee hopes to give jury instructions and decide if John Schultz IV is innocent or guilty.