Justin Geiger

Overview

Justin R. Geiger, 20, was believed to have taken his own life with a gunshot to the head on July 16, 2006, after fatally shooting Amber N. Carlson, 19, and killing Adam Towler, 20, with multiple stab wounds to the chest near the University of Wyoming campus. Geiger also sexually assaulted a male housemate, Anthony N. Klochak, 19, who survived and was treated at a local hospital, and he attacked his roommate with a knife.

Timeline

• early July 16, 2006 — Police believed Geiger fatally shot Amber N. Carlson with a single shot to the head, killed Adam Towler, 20, with multiple stab wounds to the chest, and sexually assaulted Anthony N. Klochak, 19, who survived.
• early morning of July 16, 2006 — Police said Geiger fatally shot himself with a gunshot to the head.

Background

Justin R. Geiger was described as a sophomore at the University of Wyoming and as a former athlete. He was from South Beloit, Illinois, and was living in a house two blocks from campus with four others. Two roommates had gone out of town the weekend of the attacks.

Amber N. Carlson, 19, was from Denver and was visiting the house at the time of the attacks. She was a John F. Kennedy High School graduate and was described as a close friend of Geiger. She was also described as a sophomore nursing student at the Laramie campus.

Adam Towler, 20, was described as a local resident who had been attending Emory University in Atlanta and who planned to transfer to Georgetown University. Towler was home for the summer taking classes while preparing to transfer. Towler’s father was described as head of the chemical and petroleum engineering department at the university.

Anthony N. Klochak, 19, was a University of Wyoming student who shared a house with Geiger where the killings occurred. Klochak was described as being treated at a local hospital and released, and as cooperating with the investigation.

Geiger graduated in 2005 from Hononegah High School, where he played football. He majored in marketing at the University of Wyoming, and the investigations described him as a close friend of Carlson. Geiger was described as having grown up in South Beloit and moved the family to nearby Rockton within the last year.

Geiger was described as the youngest of four children. A sister, Jennifer Saavedra, died in January.

The offence

Police said Geiger walked into a room in the early-morning hours of July 16 to find the body of 20-year-old Adam Towler, who was visiting friends at the house, and that Geiger had stabbed Towler to death.

Police said Geiger then shot Carlson with a single shot to the head with a high-powered rifle.

Police said Geiger used the rifle to fatally shoot himself.

Investigators described the attacks as a double murder-suicide and also as involving a knife attack on a fourth person. Police said Geiger stabbed Towler multiple times, fatally injuring him, and then attacked his roommate. The roommate was described as being sexually assaulted and receiving superficial stab wounds and as fleeing the house for help, shouting for help and alerting people who called police.

Police believed the sexual assault was "a crime of power and control and violence" and not one of sex.

Investigation

Police released details describing the incident as a case of double-murder and suicide.

Laramie Police Cmdr. Dale Stalder described investigators’ approach as trying to determine motivation and said they could not point to anything that triggered the event.

The investigation included forensic evidence and witness interviews to provide a timeline. Police were also described as having considered the possibility of a murder-suicide early in the case.

Police spokesman Cmdr. Dale Stalder said the motive remained unclear and stated that it had not been determined whether any of the other victims had been sexually assaulted.

A forensic consultant, Gary Rini, was quoted explaining how forensic evidence could show where the shooter was from the victim and whether there was struggle, while noting that motive would be separate.

Douglas Godfrey, described as a former prosecutor and a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, was quoted describing the difficulty of looking into a person’s mind and the possibility of mixed motives.

Richard Kling, described as a clinical professor of law at Chicago-Kent and a defense lawyer for 35 years, was quoted stating that forensic evidence could determine what happened and who was responsible but could not tell why it happened.

Police continued investigating to try to find a motive.

Arrest

No suspects had been detained since Sunday.

Trial

No trial information was included.

Sentencing

No sentencing information was included.

Appeals

No appeal information was included.

Outcome

Police concluded that Justin R. Geiger committed suicide by shooting himself the same day.

Police said Geiger was responsible for the killings, including the deaths of Amber N. Carlson and Adam Towler, and that he sexually assaulted and stabbed another University of Wyoming student, Anthony N. Klochak, 19, who survived after being treated at a local hospital and released.

Police said the motive for the killings remained unclear and that no clear motive had been found.

Aftermath

University officials reviewed security policies and made some upgrades, including updating safety notifications to students and faculty and re-emphasizing the importance of reporting unusual behavior.

Sara Axelson, the university’s vice president of student affairs, said the university made every appropriate response to Geiger’s behavior, including calling the police about the alcohol possession charge, and said that once Geiger was moved to a new dorm in October 2005, he stayed out of trouble.

Steve Carlson, described as father of Amber N. Carlson, said the family doubted the university was doing all it could to save students from dying at the hands of a classmate and said they had no faith in the university making hard decisions. Carlson said that there were warning signs and that the university “totally dropped the ball with this kid.”

Steve Carlson was quoted as saying:

"Due to what has happened in the past at the University of Wyoming, we have no faith in them making the really hard decisions," Steve Carlson said last week. "As a parent, I would be petrified to send my child to the University of Wyoming." "There were warning signs even up to the end," Steve Carlson said. "But they totally dropped the ball with this kid." "There was no communication to anyone concerning Justin's explosive temper and no cautions advised," Carlson said. "In this case," Shelley Towler said, "there were warning signs after warning signs, but they (the university) didn't react." "You are a liar and poor excuse for a human being," Carlson said in an e-mail to Buchanan. "I don't have any other information now except to say it is definitely criminal in nature," he said.

Julie Carlson and Towler’s parents, Brian and Shelley Towler, said the university knew about Geiger’s erratic and dangerous behavior during the 2005-06 school year but did nothing to get him help or to keep him from other students.

Shelley Towler was quoted as saying:

"In this case, I think there were big warning signs, but they were ignored. Illinois man's night of killing still a mystery Slayings, suicide still shake Wyoming city"

University officials threatened asking for criminal action against Carlson for writing an angry e-mail to the school president. Rick Miller, described as the university’s vice president of legal affairs, was quoted saying Carlson could face charges of harassment and intimidation if he kept it up:

"University employees ... understand they may be subject to criticism, and possibly harsh criticism," Miller said. "However, University employees, whatever their duties, must not be subject to abuse."

Steve Carlson was described as sending stinging e-mails to faculty and staff, including university president Tom Buchanan, and as telling the university he would warn new students about the dangers on campus during freshman orientation. Carlson said he was not backing down.

Shelley Towler was described as crediting Buchanan with pushing hard for increased school safety and as saying that universities still did not do enough to ensure students attending classes were not dangerous. Towler was quoted as saying:

"There are kids rooming with other kids in these dorms and no one, not the university, knows who they are or what they have done," Towler said. "In this case, I think there were big warning signs, but they were ignored."

The university spokesman Jay Fromkin was described as not releasing information about the students involved initially and as stating the university was waiting.

Other details

Police Commander Dale Stalder said investigators were treating the case as a triple murder at one point, while also saying they did not think there was any danger to the community and that all of the people involved were accounted for.

Police said all of the guests had left by the time Geiger attacked Towler shortly before 2 a.m., leaving only those who became involved in the attacks.

Autopsy results were described as indicating that the victims and Geiger had all consumed alcohol.

By the time of the attacks, Geiger rented the house with several roommates. Neighbors reported at about 2 a.m. that Klochak was yelling for someone to call police.

Megan Perkins, 18, graduated from Hononegah High School and spoke from a Rockton ice cream parlor where she was working. Perkins was quoted:

"It was an 'I can't believe it' kind of thing when I first heard it," Perkins said. "He was the kind of guy who always walked down the halls with a smile on his face." "He really wanted to fit in, I thought," she said. "When I heard that it happened, I felt maybe it was a bad scenario and he was a victim."

It was described that there were only two pictures of Geiger in his high school senior yearbook and that he was not listed as being a member of any clubs.

John Geiger was described as Justin Geiger’s father and as an insurance salesman in South Beloit. An attempt to reach him for comment was unsuccessful.

Adam Buol, 17, was quoted describing Geiger:

"He and I used to play together in the backyard when we were younger," Buol said Wednesday. "He was two years older, so when I got to high school, we would always make sure and wave at each other in the hall."

It was described that Geiger was thin, athletic, loved to be outdoors, and enjoyed riding his bike in the neighborhood.

Steve Carlson said Geiger vandalized a bathroom after fighting with another student, threw a knife at a residence hall assistant, and was transferred to a new dorm because of a possession of alcohol charge. Carlson said police were never notified and his parents were never notified.

University officials said they did call police about the alcohol possession charge, and said those incidents did not indicate he was prone to the type of violence that unfolded in July.

Laramie Police Cmdr. Dale Stalder was quoted describing the need for preliminary conclusions and describing the investigation staffing:

"We felt that it was important due to the nature of this incident, and its impact on the community, to at least try to come to some preliminary conclusions, and try to let people know as much as we can tell about this incident," Stalder said of Wednesday's announcement blaming Geiger for the deaths. "We have a dedicated detective staff of four people who are all working on this investigation, as well as other administrative personnel, and patrol personnel," Stalder said.