Sandy Hook: Killer’s House To Be Torn Down

The home of Sandy Hook Elementary School Killer Adam Lanza is to be torn down and destroyed. Officials in Newtown, Connecticut, have voted to tear down the home where Lanza lived before he carried out the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lanza killed his mother in the house, before going on to murder 26 people at Sandy Hook School. Residents of Newtown have claimed that the house is an all too painful reminder of the school killings, and that children are frightened by its presence.

CNN reports that the council members voted unanimously on Wednesday to tear down the home, according to First Selectman Patricia Llodra. The large yellow colonial-style house sits on a hill on a grassy two-acre property and was the first of two crime scenes in December 2012. Lanza, 20, shot his mother through her forehead in her second-floor bedroom before making his way to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he murdered 20 pupils and six teachers.

The Telegraph reports that neighbors had been pleading with town officials to tear down the house of the mass murderer, with one resident saying it’s “a constant reminder of the evil that resided there.”

Amy DeLoughy, whose house sits across the street, wrote to the council that her children’s school bus stop had to be moved because it was too scary for the children to wait near the house.

At present, there is no timetable to raze the home, but Mary Ann Jacob, chairman of the Newtown Legislative Council, said a town meeting will be held, which is a formality, and then “the demolition can take place as soon as is practical.”

The two-acre property, worth an estimated $525,000, was given to the town in December by a bank that acquired it from the Lanza family. After the Sandy Hook School murders, authorities boarded up the front door to the home, where investigators found more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition, at least 10 knives, and three samurai swords, among other weapons.

Sandy Hook Elementary School was demolished in 2013 and is being rebuilt, according to the town’s website. According to the Independent, many of the townspeople feel that the demolition of the house will be another step in the healing process for the victims of Sandy Hook.

Neighbor Dave Ackart wrote, “Not only is the property a constant reminder of the evil that resided there – those of us who walk, run, drive, ride or otherwise must pass it multiple times a day, are having a hard time moving on.”

Mr. Ackart also said that the house has become a magnet for fans of the macabre “who still drive by and pause and take photos on a regular basis.”

After the Sandy Hook killers house is destroyed, the land will be left open for the time being. Any future development will be to the benefit of the families and survivors of the Sandy Hook massacre.