Faith Marie Zuranski Kinkel, a 57-year-old female, was a respected Spanish teacher in Springfield, Oregon. Her life, however, came to a tragic and violent end on May 20, 1998, within the confines of her own home. The perpetrator was her 15-year-old son, Kipland Kinkel, who had been suspended from Thurston High School the previous day for being in possession of a firearm on school grounds. On that Wednesday, after his father William returned home, Kip fatally shot him.
Later in the evening, when Faith arrived home, her son met her in the garage. He told her that he loved her before shooting her multiple times, twice in the back of the head, three times in the face, and once through the heart. He then covered her body with a sheet.
The following morning, on May 21, 1998, Kip drove to Thurston High School armed with a semi-automatic rifle and other firearms. He walked into the crowded cafeteria and opened fire, killing two students and injuring 25 others. The rampage ended when several students tackled and subdued him until law enforcement arrived. It was only after his arrest for the school shooting that the bodies of his parents, Faith and William Kinkel, were discovered in their home.
During the subsequent police investigation, Kipland Kinkel confessed to the murders of his parents. While in custody, he lunged at an officer with a knife he had concealed, screaming for the officer to kill him. He later explained he had wanted to take his own life after killing his parents but could not bring himself to do it. In September 1999, to avoid a trial where his attorneys had planned an insanity defense, Kip Kinkel pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and 26 counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to nearly 112 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
