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Judge considers reduced verdict for Odgren

John Odgren

Lawyers for a teenager convicted of killing another boy in a suburban Boston high school have asked a judge to reduce the verdict so he would have a chance to someday leave prison.

John Odgren was found guilty in April of first-degree murder, requiring an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Odgren's lawyers say he was a mentally ill 16-year-old when he fatally stabbed 15-year-old James Alenson in 2007 in a school bathroom.

A Middlesex Superior Court judge on Monday took under advisement the defense bid to reduce the verdict to second-degree murder, which would make Odgren eligible for parole after 15 years.

Alenson's parents told the Boston Herald that knowing Odgren will remain behind bars is their only chance for "some sort of peace."

James Alenson was killed on Jan. 19, 2007
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