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Subscribe to RSSWhile much remains unknown about the Sandy Hook school shooting, we're learning more about one of the victims – gunman Adam Lanza's mother, who owned all of the weapons recovered at the scene. NBC's Mike Isikoff reports, and four of her friends join TODAY's Savannah Guthrie to talk about her life and her relationship with her son.
NEWTOWN, Conn. -- New details about the private lives of Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza and his mother, Nancy, emerged Monday, including details of a 2009 divorce settlement that resulted in annual payments to her of nearly $300,000 and gave her ultimate authority to make all decisions on behalf of her troubled son.
Handout / NBC News
Adam Lanza in an undated photo.
While the divorce was granted on the grounds that "the marriage has broken down irretrievably," the parting of the ways between Nancy Lanza and her ex-husband Peter was relatively amicable, according to records obtained by NBC News.
There was no custody dispute over Adam, then a teenager, when the couple split. Peter Lanza, a vice president for taxes at GE Energy and Financial Services, agreed to solely finance the cost of his two sons' college and graduate school education and to provide a car for Adam if he should want one. He also maintained joint legal custody with visitation rights and vacations with Adam. (GE is a minority owner in NBCUniversal.)
There was a check mark in a "limited contest" box on one form -- meaning there appeared to be some financial or property disputes -– but the final settlement reflected no obvious friction.
Nancy Lanza got the Newtown, Conn., house, which she was required to sell or refinance by February 2011 so he would no longer be liable, and the couple kept their own jewelry, and divided photos, personal property -- even season tickets to Boston Red Sox games.
Friends say that Nancy Lanza, a former financial trader, had not been working in recent years. The terms of the settlement could explain why: She received $289,800 in alimony in 2012,which was to increase each year to reach $298,000 in 2015.
But sources close to the family tell NBC News that beneath the apparently cordial separation, which dated to 2001, animosity was growing between the father and his youngest son.
By 2010, Peter Lanza was dating a new woman, whom he later married, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, and Adam Lanza cut off all communication with his father. Peter tried to see Adam, but his son refused, they said.
Authorities say Nancy Lanza was the first victim in Friday’s murderous rampage, slain by multiple gunshots in her Newtown home shortly before Adam Lanza, 20, drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School and blasted his way in. By the time police responded, 20 young children, six adults and Adam Lanza were all dead from gunshot wounds, his being self-inflicted.
Friends of Nancy Lanza in Newtown on Monday shed new light on Adam Lanza’s at-times strange behavior in the years before the shooting, but said she did not indicate that it had changed in recent months.
Obtained by NBC News
Nancy Lanza in a Facebook photo provided by a friend.
Ellen Adriani and Russell Hanoman, both of whom said they were close friends of Nancy Lanza’s, said the 52-year-old single mother was devoted to her youngest son, whom they described as intelligent, mild-mannered and socially awkward. He also had an aversion to human contact, they said.
Hanoman, who said he had met Adam on several occasions, recalled him as a “very mild-mannered” young man who was interested in technology and engineering and liked to maintain his distance from other people.
“I remember when I first met him, he deliberately stood maybe 6 feet away from me and took three exaggerated steps toward me … stuck out his hand, shook (mine) … put it back and (took) three exaggerated steps back.”
Adriani, who never met Adam, said Nancy Lanza told her of a time when Adam was ill while he was in high school and didn’t want her to enter his bedroom.
“But yet he still wanted Nancy there for him, so she camped out all night outside his bedroom door,” she said. “Periodically through the evening, he would ask her, ‘Are you there? Are you still there?’ and she’d be, ‘I’m here. I’m here.’ So he needed to have that security that she was there but not in his space.”
Hanoman also remembered Nancy Lanza as a devoted mother.
“Everything that she did in life … was devoted to making sure that he was taken care of,” he said.
Adam Lanza also was “an organic vegan” with a conservative worldview, he said.
“He was actually politically aware for a teenager,” he said. “… He was always very free-market economics and capitalism, as I think most people are in this country.”
He also was interested in target shooting, sometimes accompanying his mother to local shooting ranges to practice. (Federal agents investigating the school massacre said Monday that they have found evidence that Adam Lanza visited more than one range and "engaged in shooting activities." And they say they know that he visited some ranges with his mother.)
In addition to his technological and weapons prowess, Adam Lanza was an excellent dancer – at least within the confines of the Dance Dance Revolution video game.
“It’s an arcade game as well as on the home systems where you basically dance around to a pattern on the screen,” Hanoman said. “And he was extremely good at it. He would often accumulate an audience of people around watching him…. (But) because it’s a two-player game … if anyone tried to come on the platform with him, no matter what he was doing, he would just turn around and walk out of the arcade.”
Despite such anti-social behavior, Hanoman said that mother and son had over the past several years looked at a number of colleges where Adam Lanza might be able to make a fresh beginning.
“He wanted to go back to school, so they were looking at colleges all over the country, looking for an ideal environment for him,” he said. “… He wanted to become more socialized. He didn’t want to stay trapped in his home the rest of his life.”
NBC News Justice Correspondent Pete Williams, Today Investigative Correspondent Jeff Rossen and Today Producer Robert Powell contributed to this report.
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Agree with comments re: the overly conservative "values" this family seemed to have. And the author also needs to understand the clinical definition of anti-social behavior--it doesn't mean someone who doesn't want to socialize with others. It's a specific diagnosis. Look it up in the brand-spanking new as of last weekend DSM V.
The "OVERLY CONSERVATIVE VALUES"?
What? Being capitalist?
Vegans, divorced parents and zero mention of religion or God. Blue state.
What part of that is Overly conservative?
Gayle, Are you a capitalist or a communist?
Please, somebody name one thing that is banned and isnt rampant in our country today. Please be relevant.
Books on bomb making.
Silencers for guns.
Nuclear material.
incest.
Making grey alien human hybrids in a secret lab with the help of Ancient Aliens. But somehow...
MC, if we could resolve them all in our life time. But we are still evolving as a species. And if you look at history; Human evolvment can regress at times for centuries. And species (even our own) can quickly go extinct.
@ MC
Sorry but suppressors (incorrectly called silencers) are not banned in all states. They are legal in my state, as well as others. You just have to jump through a few extra hoops to get one. I'm not a hunter but within the last year they also made it legal to hunt with suppressors where I live. Go figure...
The maternal instinct killed her. She made mistake after mistake. Starting with getting pregnant.
I wonder if he ever posted anything here? Somehow im not surprised he was conservative. Probably bent over losing the election. What a loser.
I'm a Mental Health Professional. From the information we are recieving about this shooter, he was not a "sociopath". He does not even meet the criteria for anti-social personality disorder. This shooter most likely had a form of autism that went untreated and not monitored. This is everyone in this nations fault. If we had CONFIDENTIAL 24/7 access to crisis intervention specialists who will go to the location of the situation (home ect.) many of these situations can be resolved before the individual acts out violently. Police do not have the edjucation and skills to deal with these crisis situations.
I have my doubts he was mentally ill. I think he was spoiled rotten, and a mommas boy. Who had fits when he didnt get his way. And he didnt like people, because they wouldnt kiss his butt. His mom did.
How much you want to bet hes been online "ranting" leading up to this event?
This event seems like a revenge mission, to cause as much pain as possible. Why else kill classrooms full of little kids, that he really has no connection too.
Wasn't there some mention of smashed up computers at the home?
Definitely paranoid with obsessive disorder. I've known some pretty aggressive schizophrenic people as well but he doesn't seem to fit some how. Sounds like there were some manic episodes.
But don't agree with autism
Also wonder what the family history is.
ruset, autism has become over diagnosed in the past 10yrs. But this shooter had the old fashion classic signs and symptoms. Even the inability to feel physical pain. Apparently he was being treated but he had no history of having major psychotic episodes (from what we know so far). But there is much more info. we need to know. One fact is that many of his providors knew he needed to be monitored and someone dropped the ball.
Kevin, you are absolutely correct. I have no doubt, given the symptoms and behaviors described, that this was a classic case of autism, but the autism is in no way responsible for his violent behavior. More than anything else, because of the communication problems inherent in autism, it more than likely served as a cover to more severe disturbances in his thinking.
There are some constants in the case of people who commit these types of crimes; at least the ones who are not clinically psychotic. Those who suffer from a clinical psychosis fall into another category altogether. I'm not certain that Adam Lanza suffered from clinical psychosis at all, but am in agreement with his brother's revelation that was suffering from a personality disorder that led to distorted thought processes and perceptions of his environment. Clinically or legally insane? No. Extremely disturbed, yes. But his autism was not the deciding factor in that disturbance.
They tend to see themselves as having been mistreated by wider society, and to blame others for any difficulties they have experienced. When they commit these acts, it is as a form of revenge.
Dogji i think you have the answer. It's something without know him that you really can't put your finger on. But there was more than one issue he was dealing with.
Bull! It was no one other than his crazy mother's fault for keeping handgus and semi-automatic rifles in the house. If there were no guns in this situation, there would likely have been no deaths. The so-called autistic would have had to use a knife to do his killing, in which case someone would have been able to stop him.
I’ve met people like this killer at different times in my life. To date they haven’t killed anyone. Just trying to get to a motive here. Wild guesses.
I think he killed his mom in her sleep to spare the only person he loved of the devilish plan he had.
Did he know the school therapist? Seems like he targeted them.
He cut off his dad after he (dad) got remarried. He doesn’t have a normal family, blames his life failures on the divorce, so he psychotically hated all that families stood for. He attacked what he thought would hurt the most. Or he was simply a natural born killer/mental health issues like the Virginia tech killer, ticking psychopath time bombs that wanted to be know as one of the worst killers in history. Very similar behavior patterns.
It just rips the heart out to imagine him shooting the innocent kids who put their arms up to block. I’m not religious but just for this occasion, God, I wish the kids go to heaven and the cold blooded murderer goes to hell.
Maybe you should try being a believer. The way I understand the Bible, you get your wish.
Focusing on gun control is like focusing on taking away fly swatters from people who want to kill bees. Fine, take away their fly swatters, they will just use a rolled up news paper or anything else to kill the bees. The focus should be put on reaching out for help to get rid of or away from the bees
What a stupid analogy! Guns as flyswatters!
Labels are sometimes helpful, but not necessarily accurate. Consider one tossed around recently: intermittent explosive disorder -- its helpful because it describes observable action. But crazy unstable people may be presenting an agitated mix of emotions. If you've ever been involved in a fight, a confrontation at work, or God forbid, an intervention with an allegedly suicidal person, due to harassment, bullying or what have you, you know how trying such interactions are. Even if you can find someone qualified to intervene, ( there are too many people willing to help, but they don't know much about the status quo) its seldom clear what needs to be done. Why aren't we better at protecting the innocent, the vulnerable, even if that means locking up the severely ill, to protect society from their unproven danger to self and others?
Not all Mentally ill are dangerous. But that being sad. This woman new her son had issues and had the money to seek help. Why didn't she. Denial most likely.
ruset, true. In fact, few of the mentally ill are dangerous but ALL who commit violent actions ARE mentally ill.
Past aggression is as good as any predictor for future violence. Not all violence causes mental illness. Its possible to be involved in ongoing battles and not experience any symptoms of stress or anxiety.
Major, funny you say that. I have noticed that many of our new police recruits have a history of being involved in military battle and act in a para-military attitude treating all US citizens as if they are the enemy.
Dark humor is my forte.
I've met enough mentally ill to conclude a significant number are dangerous. They can be doubly dangerous if stoked by intelligence and aggression.
My theory is that most of these pro-gun postings are from the retirement communities of the Southwest. These senior citizens who see few young white people and many Mexicans under 25 feel vulnerable. Why else would they keep re-electing that buffoon Sheriff Joe Arpaio?
Despite a few quotes from over 200 years ago and lifted so out of context that the original meaning actually is reversed, the Founding Fathers did not intend the "well regulated [well trained] Militia" to be an instrument to overthrow a democratically elected government. The two attempts to do exactly that, the Whiskey rebellion in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts' Shay's Rebellion, were suppressed by those very Militias, sent there by several States!
btw: Jefferson's war record is iffy at best despite his many pronouncements on the sacredness of "Liberty". When British regulars approached his home in Virginia during the Revolutionary War he apparently decamped for the hills.
Read other newspaper accounts. From the front page of the Los Angeles Times
"Friends of the family said he suffered from Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. As early as age 10, Adam Lanza was taking medication, according to his former baby sitter, Ryan Kraft, now an aerospace engineer in Hermosa Beach.
"I know there was something administered. I'm not sure what," he said. There were never any signs that Lanza was dangerous, he said. "There were no red flags that would say something like this would happen."
Nancy Lanza cautioned Kraft to never let him out of his sight, even briefly. "The instructions were to always supervise him visually," he said."
Just part of a long article.............. He got progressively worse after his parent divorced.
If that had been one of my children or family members so heartlessly and brutally gunned down by that young guy/coward, you can bet your behind I'd be suing that mother's estate for every penny on the planet. How stupid can a human, let alone a MOTHER be to keep dangerous weapons in a house with a mentally disturbed person??!!! He was not right and she clearly knew it. I just cannot get over her complete and utter stupidity!! This incident could have so easily been avoided. What? Did the bomb making class not work out or was the poisonous chemical making class full? So she decided on a very similarly dangerous hobby? And her lame excuse for needing a gun/guns for protection?! Get a dog. A locked gun safe might also have been a good idea.
Another example of it not necessarily being guns that kill people, it's people who don't treat them with the respect that they deserve, that kill people. Kids getting ahold of their parents guns and shooting themselves or others, sometimes accidentally, usually not, or even adults misfiring and killing someone. Here's the rule I was taught as a kid that every person on the planet should understand and follow......Guns kill. Never point a gun at anything that you don't want to kill. Period. Nevermind if it's empty (or you think it's empty), you just NEVER, EVER, EVER do it. No matter what. And if you have guns, be responsible and keep them locked up at all times and teach your children that guns kill and they are NOT toys and should never, ever touch them, no matter what. Ever. Good parenting and common sense would go a long way in this debate, but there's a story everyday about people who lack one or the other or both and until that's a crime, there is no law that will ever completely stop gun incidents. And for the love of pete, if you have a child with any sort of a mental problem, personality disorder, substance abuse issue, etc., do NOT keep loaded weapons readily available for them.
USPS, from what we are finding out about this shooter and his mother's knowledge of his mental health disorder, it seems beyond stupid for this mother to allow him to have access to weapons. But this is also an insight into this shooter's MH history. From what we know the mother was stable and aware of his chronic mental illness. Most likely the shooter had no history of being violent. The shooter was being treated for a MH disorder. I think I know what it is. The shooter most likely had a profound lack of self-esteem/confidence and the mother used gun lessons to help him with his low self confidence (beyond stupid) as judo or karate classes would have been more helpful for him.
This tragedy is going to open ALL of our eyes on how to deal with people who have homocidal ideations
I doubt seriously that this mother was stable, and can cite several things from several different articles that would indicate that lack of stability.
Personality disorders are familial. That doesn't mean that they are genetically transmitted, but are the result of environment that lead to distorted thought and coping mechanisms. A mother who is a "prepper", overly concerned with being victimized as the result of an economic meltdown, that attempts to hide her son's obvious problems by refusing to discuss them and simply treat him as if he doesn't have these difficulties (most likely to prevent being judged by wider society for having a son with issues, eg victimized and blamed) most definitely was dealing with some issues of her own. That would have an impact on her son. Children, even autistic ones, learn what they live.
Just get rid of the guns, and problems in the family will stay in the family.
This mother should never had introduced her clearly mentally challenged son to guns and nor should she had guns in her home. This mother clearly knew her son was dangerous when he was very young when she warned a 15 year old babysitter never leave this boy out of his sight.
1. There should be an absolute ban on all gun shows and a complete ban on assault guns and other artillery. There is no need for anyone to have such weaponery other then the military and or law enforcement, period.
2. When a legal background check is done a mental assessment should be done by a certified therapist paid by the person who seeks a license to carry an arm.
3. A home assessment should be done by law enforcement that the arms and the bullets are secured and again paid by the person who seeks the license.
4. And no person should be allowed to own more than 2 guns at one time.
These ideas do not put a full-stop on gun violience, but it sure cuts down the opportunities for more to happen and these ideas also do not prevent people who are stable and legal binding citizens from holding a permit and gun, legally.
Since you're a hoplophobe I have a simple solution for you .
Pack your bags & move to North Korea, China, or even Mexico. Or any number of countries that restrict rights/freedoms. Most if not all have outright bans on civilians owning guns. You'll fit right in & then you can feel safe. No need to thank me. I'm happy to help you with your problem.
I got a better idea, slacker. Why don't you move to Yemen or Somalia? There's not much government in those places and none of those hopalongs, either. Everybody's got a gun and usually it's a great BIG one.
tforu, I salute you. These are reasonable proposals with a lot of merit, no. 4 especially. There are such limitations--on handguns at least--in many of our States. Every additional firearm doubles the hazard of unauthorized use.
Sounds like an a t y p i c a l l y rebellious teenager.
LOL. This shooter's MH history and how it was under treated is going to change our entire society
I seriously doubt it. And the evidence is all over the vine. People are still engaging in blame, rather than honest discussion. People are still using the incident as a forum for the need for self protection by the ownership of extended clips and semi-automatic weapons. People are still stigmatizing autism and mental illness.
Until we stop, as a society, stigmatizing mental illness, mothers will continue to refuse treatment for their children and try to deal with issues they are not qualified to deal with out of fear of being blamed for their children's issues. As long as we attempt to isolate this as an individual's problem, instead of a problem that we all, as a society, bear some responsibility toward, we will not see wide spread change. And until we stop living in a delusional form of paranoia that everyone we pass on the street is to be seen as an enemy rather than as a non-threatening human being just trying their best to get through this life, we will continue to see these incidents. Until we stop glorfiying violence, including vengeful violence, as a society, we will not see any widespread or lasting change.
The problem with MH is not so much stigmatizing them. Facts are that it is a decease like any other and medications help keep them stable. These are terrible meds with side effects that make make MH patients not want to take them or they feel they are well and don't take them.
What ever the case even when potentially aggressive we tend to bring them into the hospital and stabilize them then let them out into the community.
Community MH workers are constantly chasing them down. Just think of the case in Canada where the Pt cannibalized a passenger on a bus. That Pt is back out on the streets. Why because he is now on meds. But for how long.
We really need to look at how professionals deal with MH.
Professionals are restricted in many ways in what they can do.
Where's is this so called "government turning on its people" argument coming from? I'll tell you where ...from right -wing militia survivalist groups who with a paranoid delusional fear of this all controlling government..but really it's a racial fear that harbors and festers this myth of the country falling into chaos and implodes.
Their fear of "blacks"and "Hispanics" fuels this "2nd amendment excuse" to carry assault weapons or any weapon of mass destruction to protect this silly argument of self protection. My God there's is over 250 million people in America...if there excuse was true are even relevant we would have had racial civil wars or more psychos grabbing weapons going on massive killing sprees.
BTW This Lanza guy fits the all true stereotypical anti-social white male from a rich wealthy broken home which is usually ultra-conservative Republican (the irony...) This paranoid fear of racial and economic collapse gives cause and purpose to someone who is mentally disturbed (bi-polar) within the social circle (this happens in all races)
Their only purpose is lashing out to eliminate the so called evil entity(which is usually another race, an authority like the government, or in this tragic case the (happiness) of the children that he feels is causing him pain or discomfort with his life. That evil (happiness)to him was the unrestrained ambient smiles, joy and innocence of those little children that became his target to snuff out(something he himself probably never experienced or enjoyed)
Outzider
Where's is this so called "government turning on its people" argument coming from? Probably past experience. For some examples -
* Mandatory seat belt use
* NYC soft drink laws
*SF City Council(?) proposal to require all vehicles have gps
* Mandatory health care ins
Now, I agree that some of these laws are benign but soft drinks and gps? Slowly, we are losing our individuality because government says that they are passing laws for our own good. When will it stop?
BTW, I am a retired Marine that has no ties to any group left or right.
We, as a society. are assuming our police can handle all things and reinforce this delusion by constantly refering to them as if they are "super heros". Most police only have a high school edjucation and only recieve 6mos. of training. They are not "super heros". They do not have the edjucation and skills to deal with complex emergency situations and they are being less and less trained on how and when they must ask for help.
Someone who can't even spell the word EDUCATION correctly telling another group that they are dumb. Now that's funny...LOL
BTW, don't tell me it was a typo because you made the same error twice. LOL
Nice reporting NBC. You think we can't see your subtle implication that it's only conservatives that do these kinds of things? Disgusting!
I take that back. It's not even subtle. And poster #67 buys it hook line and sinker. You heard it from me first, I guarantee there is something much deeper that is not being reported or that will eventually come out.
Just being a person with a conservative worldview does not make someone do something like this.
Gee thanks to the media for making the monster and his name famous. Now the next one has a higher target to hit to be more famous than the last. And in that mind set, everybody will wonder about how complicated, smart, and mad he was in order to do such a horrible thing, as though he gets to stand back and watch us study him. It's not the gun's fault, it's the sick monster and his desire for fame. He got what he wanted and we let him have it. Without guns, he'd have used knives or a truck load of fertilizer and diesel fuel. If we took the possibility of his fame away, he might have taken his own life but not the others.
Unless we resolve never to publish or speak the name of these monsters, they'll keep on competing for the number one spot. And they'll find ways, so let me keep my guns and protect my family because it's not the gun's fault.
I know I am going out on a limb criticicising police. But I know how to practice law enforcement. I come from a large family of police officers. It is delusional in the way we are now look to the police as "super heros". The straw that broke the camel's back was when the religious and political leaders frequently refered to the police as being exceptionally intrimental in responding to this mass killing. The shooter was already dead. They were instrimental in nothing.
I fequently come across children who have been physically tortured to death. The reality is that these kids lucked out by being quickly killed.
I have to wonder...why did he smash up his hard drive to the point that nothing could be retrieved from the thing? Did someone online tell him to do this, and to destroy the evidence? He played Call of Duty and read books...probably played COD online multi-player for hours every day. I hope investigators are looking into this, because there might be some evidence on their servers. The servers went down during Hurricane Sandy...something like this might have distressed him greatly (autistic kids can become agitated at a change in routine) with someone else taking advantage of that once he got back to playing.
Suzi, smashing his computer shows pre-meditation. Difficult to argue a sudden episode of psychosis precipitated by his mental illness. But does not rule it out either.
Dance Dance Revolution? Really? Thank you NBC for that image. Honestly- the less I know about this animal, the better. Don't give this murderer the immortality he so desperately desired.
If government was the answer to all crimes, then our federal and state prisons would be crime-free.
While some wish to ban assault rifles, they will NEVER go away! The bad guys will always have access to them if they wish to do so. The black market purchase will never be stopped. If it isn't an Assault rifle, it will be another rifle, 9mm, bomb, knives or whatever a "mentally ill" individual wishes to use to inflict fear on the innocent. Shall we ban "mentally ill" people from society? Hey, they are the ones doing these shootings. Fair argument. Guns are in the hands of many everyday. It's the mentally ill ones that seem to use them to kill people.
Well I have to go. Bottom line is more mental health 24/7 access to well edjucated mental health professionals who will come to the location confidentially without involving the police. They can figure out the status of the individual within minutes and resolve it within @ 1 hour confidentially without involving the police.
Once again the word is EDUCATED not EDJUCATED.
Dance Dance Revolution? Really? Thank you NBC for that image. Honestly-the less I know about this animal, the better. Serves me right for reading the article. Don't give this child-killer the immortality he so desperately wanted.