"Let's Starve Baby To Death...."
Gregory Morrow
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-baby20.html
'Loner' couple gave no sign of trouble
December 20, 2001
BY ART GOLAB AND CATHLEEN FALSANI STAFF REPORTERS
As grandparents prepared a funeral Wednesday for 18-month-old James
Fredrickson, the mystery of his death by starvation remained: Who
could do such a thing to a child?
James' parents, Amanda and Kristian Fredrickson, grew up in an
affluent suburban community.
She sang in the Barrington High School Chorus. His yearbook pictures
depict a clean-cut boy next door.
"The one thing all of us are wondering is how does this happen growing
up in a suburb like Barrington?" said Brock Flagstad, a classmate of
the pair who graduated with them in 1995.
"They were both very independent loner types, they were never part of
any one group or clique," said Flagstad. "Maybe that was part of the
problem."
Kristian's father, Fritz Fredrickson, still lives in a gated community
next to a forest preserve in Barrington. He would not comment
Wednesday evening.
Amanda's father, Edward Colwell, is a former CTA executive who retired
with his wife to Natchez, Miss., to renovate a classic Southern
mansion.
The Colwells have returned to the Chicago area to take custody of
James' 5-year-old sister.
"They seem to be pretty decent people; they're as perplexed and
outraged about this as everyone else," said a source with knowledge of
the case.
For now, the Colwells and their granddaughter will stay with relatives
on Chicago's North Side.
One of the grandparents arranged for a Schaumburg funeral home to pick
up James' body from the Cook County medical examiner's office on
Wednesday, five days after his lifeless body was found in his parents'
Streamwood condo.
Authorities said the home was "filthy and unlivable," and that Amanda
and Kristian Fredrickson admitted to not feeding or caring for the
toddler, who had gained fewer than 2 pounds since he was born. They
have been charged with first-degree murder.
Amanda grew up in the Colwells' two-story Tudor-style home with
sweeping circular driveway that her family built in Barrington in
1984.
Her sophomore yearbook picture shows a smiling girl wearing lipstick,
large earrings and a cross around her neck. In her junior year, she
wore no makeup or jewelry and was not smiling.
She met her future husband in high school. The one thing they seemed
to have in common was that they both didn't have many friends,
according to Flagstad.
"Perhaps they took comfort in each other," he said.
In Kristian's senior yearbook, in a section for well-wishes, there is
a picture of him as a young boy, holding a puppy.
"Congrats Kris . . . we are so proud of you and your achievements,"
his parents wrote under the picture. "May your dreams come true as you
venture out on your own and may you always be yourself and the Kris we
know and love."
After graduation, Kristian and Amanda moved into a large,
well-appointed apartment in the basement of her family's home.
In 1996, they got a marriage certificate and a daughter was born.
"I saw the granddaughter once," said Jian Xu, the home's current
owner. "She was just a little girl; there was nothing distinguished
about her."
Xu said the house was in good condition and the Colwells seemed to be
"nice people."
In January of this year, the couple moved into a condominium in
Streamwood that real estate records show had been purchased by
Kristian's father.
Again, the couple kept to themselves, according to neighbors. Amanda
worked as a secretary until James was born in 1999. Kristian performed
repair work at an indoor amusement park chain until quitting last
month.
Neighbors said they noticed foul odors coming from the apartment but
that there was no apparent sign of abuse. On Friday, Kris brought home
food from Burger King but did not share it with the toddler,
prosecutors say. Sometime after the meal, they noticed he was
unresponsive and called paramedics.
Child abuse experts say that, in the few criminal starvation cases on
record, the parents responsible for the crime were either mentally
disabled or had serious drug problems.
In the case of the Fredricksons, no evidence of either has emerged so
far, officials said.
Flagstad said he and his classmates are having a hard time accepting
that someone from his school could commit such an act.
"It's true, you've got money here," he said. "But there's a pretty
good sense of community, too. I wish I knew the answer."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dozens call to offer to help pay for funeral
BY ART GOLAB STAFF REPORTER
Some offered money, others their own grave sites for 18-month-old
James Fredrickson, whose fragile body has lain at the county morgue
for days after he died from starvation.
"At this time when our Christ child is born, I think this child should
have a resting place," said Frances Margalski, who choked back sobs as
she offered her grave site next to her husband in Fairview Estates
Cemetery in Northlake. "I won't need it, I'm going to get cremated."
Dozens of people such as Margalski called the Chicago Sun-Times after
reading that the boy's body lay unclaimed. The boy's grandparents are
now making arrangements for a funeral.
Patricia Short was ready to donate the plot next to her father in
Sunset Memorial Gardens in Rockford. "This is a child that never had a
chance and you can't do that to kids," she said. "If we don't take
care of the kids, then we're not creating a positive future."
"I want to help," said Heidi Herman of Wilmette, who offered to help
pay for a funeral. "I have a little boy myself--that angel should not
be thrown in a pine box."
One man, a Chicago city official who did not want to be identified,
said he picked up the phone and found several city workers and other
friends who stood ready to foot the bill for a funeral.
Waitress Kathy Curtis wanted to give money and was calling her friends
to ask them to do the same. "I'm a single mom working full time to
support five kids, but I could spare something for this child. It just
broke my heart."
Gail Koster, a Chicago grandmother, also offered to pick up the tab.
"The story was so horrible. I thought, that poor baby," she said. "I
just felt so badly for that child I just couldn't stand the thought of
him not getting a proper burial."
Gutterboy
>www.suntimes.com
>
>http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-baby20.html
>
>
>'Loner' couple gave no sign of trouble
>
>December 20, 2001
>
>
>BY ART GOLAB AND CATHLEEN FALSANI STAFF REPORTERS
>
>
>As grandparents prepared a funeral Wednesday for 18-month-old James
>Fredrickson, the mystery of his death by starvation remained: Who
>could do such a thing to a child?
>
>James' parents, Amanda and Kristian Fredrickson, grew up in an
>affluent suburban community.
>
>She sang in the Barrington High School Chorus. His yearbook pictures
>depict a clean-cut boy next door.
>
>"The one thing all of us are wondering is how does this happen growing
>up in a suburb like Barrington?" said Brock Flagstad, a classmate of
>the pair who graduated with them in 1995.
Why are people so freakin bloody SURPRISED when well-off people commit violent
crimes, and why are they so eager to grope for excuses when it happens?
Money doesn't equal wisdom or compassion. If it did, Rich Boy Bin Laden would
be Albert Goddam Schweitzer.
Gutterboy
---
"I am so tired of people looking at me like I have poor parenting skills." --
A0L breederboard poster