CHARDON, OH (WOIO) -
When TJ Lane sat down once the judge was in the courtroom, he took off his outer shirt. For the first time Lane revealed his homemade t-shirt that read "killer" similar to the shirt he wore while pulling the trigger inside Chardon High school killing three a little more than a year ago.
It was just the first of several deplorable and disgusting moves by Lane in court. The smirks, the comment and the finger gesture.
We called the judge's office after the proceedings. His clerk read a prepared statement basically saying Judge David Fuhry never saw the t-shirt, otherwise he would have had Lane and the shirt removed.
19 Action News Reporter Dan DeRoos sat down with retired Judge Ellen Connally, who spent 24 years on the Cleveland Municipal bench.
"What kind of society -- what happens to a young man that creates, to me, it's the closest thing I've seen to Hannibal Lecter," said a shocked Connally.
As for the t-shirt, Connally said if it were her courtroom she would not have made Lane remove it either.
"I think the judge handled it very well. I think it would have caused more of a commotion and it would have given him more to say. So let him sit there. We all know what kind of a person he was," according to Connally.
Lane made a comment in court to family member about the same hand he used to pull the trigger, is the same hand he uses to masturbate. That along with smirking and almost laughing while families read their statements, all among the worst Judge Connally has ever seen. Connally reminds Lane, those already in prison are watching, too.
"Sort of as big and bad as he thinks he is now, it's going to be a whole different world when he goes to prison."
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TJ Lanes smirks in court as victims families read impact statements
TJ Lane (Source: Ohio Department of Corrections)
WWBT-TV NBC 12
