Adam Lanza’s Parents: Divorce Docs Show ‘No Sign Of Acrimony’
Stamford, CT – Adam Lanza’s parents, Nancy and Peter Lanza, had a relatively peaceful divorce in 2009, with no signs of acrimony apparent on court and divorce documents.
As family members and law enforcement authorities struggle to determine the motive behind Lanza’s killing of 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Nancy and Peter Lanza’s divorce has been pushed into the spotlight as a possible motivator for the killings. A bitter and drawn out divorce may have contributed to Adam Lanza’s mental and emotional state, but unveiled court documents seem to indicate that the split was mostly amicable.
The AP reports that divorce documents from 2009 show no hint of acrimony, and make no mention of medical or mental health issues for the then-teenage Adam Lanza.
Nancy and Peter Lanza married in 1981 in Kingston, New Hampshire, but split in 2009. According to divorce documents, the marriage “has broken down irretrievably and there is no possibility of getting back together.”
The couple agreed to joint legal custody of Adam, with the troubled boy primarily living with Nancy Lanza. The ex-couple would decide together regarding important decisions to be made in Adam’s life, with Nancy having the “final decision,” if they could not agree.
Under the terms of the divorce, Nancy Lanza received $289,800 in alimony this year.
Warning signs regarding Adam Lanza’s mental health were reportedly apparent, however. Ryan Kraft, a former babysitter of then-10-year-old Adam Lanza said that even then, Nancy Lanza warned him to be wary of her son, reports KCAL-TV in Los Angeles.
“[He] struck me as an introverted kid,” Kraft said. “His mom Nancy had always instructed me to keep an eye on him at all times, never turn my back or even go to the bathroom or anything like that. Which I found odd but I really didn’t ask; it wasn’t any of my business.”
Though Nancy and Peter Lanza’s divorce may not have been a primary factor in Adam Lanza’s motives, it seems more and more apparent that the young man was emotionally disturbed, his mental health questionable, for quite some time.
