Alex Harris

When Homeschoolers Turn Violent: David Ludwig

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Series note: “When Homeschoolers Turn Violent” is a joint research project by Homeschoolers Anonymous and Homeschooling’s Invisible Children. Please see the Introduction for detailed information about the purpose and scope of the project.

Trigger warning: If you experience triggers from descriptions of physical and sexual violence, please know that the details in many of the cases are disturbing and graphic.

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David Ludwig

“It was an intentional murder, I intended to shoot them, and I did.” So said David Ludwig, an 18-year-old teenager from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania after murdering the parents of his girlfriend.

On November 13, 2005, 18-year-old David Ludwig from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania murdered his girlfriend's parents.
On November 13, 2005, 18-year-old David Ludwig from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania murdered his girlfriend’s parents.

Both David and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Kara Beth Borden, were Christian homeschoolers. The two teenagers attended church, went to youth group, and were homeschooled in Christian families. Their families were “active in a local home-schooling support network” and originally met each other at a homeschool support group. Kara’s family also had a home church. The teenagers were active on MySpace and left each other coded love messages on their profiles.

On November 13, 2005, Michael Borden, Kara’s father, asked David to come over after Kara told her father that she and David planned to get married. (Michael was additionally upset because Kara had stayed out all night the previous night with David.) Michael’s response was “Like hell you will!” Upon David’s arrival, Michael told David he could no longer see his daughter. Having anticipated this response and coming prepared with weaponry, David shot Michael in the back as he was heading to the front door. David then sought out Kara’s mother Cathryn and shot her while she sat in a chair. David then looked for Kara but could not find her. He got in his car and started to drive away when he saw Kara running down the road towards him. She got in the car and told David she desired to “get as far away as possible, get married, and start a new life.”

David and Kara were apprehended the following day after a high-speed car chase. In June of 2006, David pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Kara was deemed a victim and not charged. She is now — along with her sister and brother — living with relatives in another state.

David and Kara’s story shocked both local and wider homeschooling communities. A homeschooling mother who knew the Borden family well commented that,

What makes this so difficult to understand is that these children were somewhat sheltered from drugs and all that and yet they get into this… We’re just assuming that we’re home-schooling and our kids are OK, and now this. They’re not all OK.

The late Kim Anderson, a popular homeschool forensics coach, wrote about the murders in 2005 for the Christian website Crosswalk. She noted that violence arose “from the sector in which we would least expect to find them: the close-knit community of Christian home-schooling families.” Alex Harris was also moved to write about the murders on The Rebelution, a Christian ministry directed at youth. Alex cautioned against considering David and Kara “newsworthy aberrations,” noting how “un-abnormal they are; how similar they are to people I know; how similar they are to me.” Alex concludes with saying,

Being homeschooled did not prevent this tragedy; growing up in a Christian environment did not prevent this tragedy.

View the case index here.

When Homeschoolers Turn Violent: Patrick Armstrong

HA Editorial Team3 Comments
Screen Shot 2014-03-02 at 5.36.11 PM

Series note: “When Homeschoolers Turn Violent” is a joint research project by Homeschoolers Anonymous and Homeschooling’s Invisible Children. Please see the Introduction for detailed information about the purpose and scope of the project.

Trigger warning: If you experience triggers from descriptions of physical and sexual violence, please know that the details in many of the cases are disturbing and graphic.

*****

Patrick Armstrong

Patrick Armstrong and Marlee Johnston were friends growing up in a neighborhood called Lovejoy Pond in Readfield, Maine. But in 2005, the 14-year-old Patrick murdered Marlee (also 14). Marlee’s brother Alec found his sister’s body in the shallow water of the neighborhood pond.

In 2005, 14-year-old Patrick Armstrong murdered a childhood friend, 14-year-old Marlee Johnston.
In 2005, 14-year-old Patrick Armstrong murdered a childhood friend, 14-year-old Marlee Johnston.

Patrick, who lived with his parents and an older sister, was homeschooled for most of his life. Marlee was attending a public school. After the murder, police looked into a personal website of Patrick’s, where the homeschooled teen expressed sentiments like, “I hate this society and I hate most people within it,” and listed “serial killers and Columbine” as his interests. Indeed, in Patrick’s list of heroes, Eric Harris — one of the Columbine gunmen — is mentioned.

Faith Soria, a neighbor of the Armstrongs, seemed shocked that Patrick would have done such a thing. She told media that “he was always polite and did not cause problems in the neighborhood.” Concerning the Armstrong family, she said, “They are wonderful neighbors and friends to us.”

When the news of Patrick murdering Marlee broke in December of 2005, it shook up the homeschooling community, to the point that Alex Harris wrote a blog post about it for The Rebelution, a Christian ministry directed at youth. Alex said it was “the second time in less than a month a homeschool teen has been arrested for murder.” This led Alex to consider how “homeschooling, by itself, is not enough to prevent tragedies like this from happening,” calling the tragedy “a wake-up call to the homeschool community.”

Patrick pleaded guilty to manslaughter in December 2006 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

View the case index here.