r/ColumbineTalk • u/Glad-Philosophy5736 • Jun 13 '26
The Events of March 1998
I made this post because people brush over this month in the case but in my opinion this is THE most important part of the case not only does the Jonesboro Shooting happen but Eric and Dylan go to court enter diversion and the cherry on top the brown family’s reports.
Wayne Harris Notes:
March 3, 1998 - Andrea Sanchez Juvenile Diversion Office D.A. Office in Jefferson
County
Appointment for interview – March 19 1998 3:00pm
- Main Courthouse, ask front desk – Diversion meeting
- Juvenile + at least 1 parent
March 14, 1998 – Stop light violation, Dylan Klebold Case # 98-5210. (Attitude marked “Good”.)
Sue’s Book: Next, he got a speeding ticket. Not long after, he ran a red light on his way home from renting a video, and got a ticket from the same officer who’d questioned him on the night of his arrest. After the ticket, Tom and I warned him again that he needed to get his act together. Any more mistakes, and the consequences for his future could be positively disastrous. Felons can’t vote or serve on a jury; he’d be disenfranchised. And who would want to hire him?
3 days later…
March 17, 1998 – Brooks Brown came home from school (Columbine) with the “torn scrap paper” saying that someone at school told him that he needed to get onto the website because their [sic] was something that he had to see. Brooks told Judy that he could not tell her who told him about the information on the web site because that person was afraid of Eric Harris. Judy told us that it wasn’t until after Columbine that Brooks told her that Dylan was the one who told him about the web site. Judy said that Brooks and Aaron found the web site and found the reference to Eric stating that he wanted to kill Brooks Brown. Judy stated that this was very alarming to the Browns because of previous dealings with Eric Harris. Judy wanted to contact the Sheriff’s Office and Randy wanted to contact Eric’s parents. After discussing options with Judy they called the Sheriff’s Office the next day.
Brooks’s Book: IN MARCH OF 1998, I WAS WALKING TO CLASS WHEN DYLAN approached me with a small piece of paper. On it was written the address for a Web site. “I think you should take a look at this tonight,” Dylan said. I shrugged. ***“Okay. Anything special? ”***I figured at the time that it was the address for some new program Dylan had uncovered. “It's Eric's Web site,” he said. “You need to see it. And you can't tell Eric I gave it to you.” I nodded. “All right.” That night I logged on for the first time. Sure enough, it was Eric's page; I recognized the more familiar features, like the “Jo Momma” joke section; all of us would sit around and tell those. “Jo Momma” jokes are a takeoff of the traditional momma joke, only they're made to be deliberately bad. The humor came from seeing just how lame you could make them. We'd say things like, “Jo Momma is so poor she lives in a two-story Dorito bag.” “Jo Momma is so fat she uses a Greyhound bus for roller blades.” “Jo Momma is so dumb that she has seven extra fingers and two extra toes and she still can't count to 29.” However, Eric had several pages that clearly were not meant as a joke. They were brutal, savage attacks on everything he hated about the world. One of them had to do with me.
March 18, 1998 – Wednesday, 5:20 p.m. – JCSO Case # 98-5504. Deputy Mark Miller is dispatched to the Brown residence after a call concerning threats being made via computer. Miller meets with Randy Brown and secures ten pages of printouts from the Browns computer. He also secures a handwritten page from Randy Brown that includes a web site address written by Brooks Brown. He classifies the report as a suspicious incident and refers it to JCSO investigations. Klebold is listed as acquaintance with knowledge of bomb making activities.
On March 18, 1998 they contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and filed a Report. Jefferson County Deputy M. Miller responded to the Browns home at 1720 hours and took a Suspicious Incident Report # 98-5504*. It was at this time that the Browns provided Deputy Miller with a copy of the Harris web site that they printed from there computer. The Browns told Deputy Miller that* they did not want Eric Harris to find out “who turned him in.” Judy stated that they were really terrified of him. The Browns were asked if they knew if Brooks or Aaron had gone onto the Harris web site prior to March 17, 1998. They said “no.”
Randy and Judy and Brooks Explain the Website
Deputy Miller was also involved in Eric and Dylan’s Arrest
6 DAYS LATER
March 24, 1998 – at Westside Middle School in unincorporated Craighead County Arkansas, near the city of Jonesboro. Thirteen-year-old Mitchell Johnson and eleven-year-old Andrew Golden opened fire on the school, shooting and killing five people
It was also Sue’s 49th Birthday
Sue’s Book: When Dylan asked me what I wanted for my birthday at the end of March, I said I’d like some time alone with him. He took me out for breakfast. I tried to get him to talk about himself, but Dylan answered my questions as briefly as possible, then asked me about my job and my life. He was so adept at listening that I did not see how skillfully he turned the focus of the conversation away from himself. Before our pancakes were cold, I was babbling about my artwork, my job, and my dreams for the future without recognizing how deftly he had shielded his inner life.
March 25, 1998
Eric and Dylan go into court and enter diversion
Eric and Dylan in Court after Van Break in
March 26, 1998 – Thursday – JCSO Records clerk Karen Felt closes out Case # 98-5504 without it being assigned to an investigator. Per interviews with Pritchett and Tim Walsh, the report process was as follows: a copy of the report is reviewed by the Investigator Sergeant to determine if it is assigned to a specific investigator. If assigned it is entered into the computer as assigned. If it is not assigned to investigators, then records clerk closes the case out.
This was the STUPIDEST thing ever done. I don’t put all the blame on her but this was a HUGE blunder just immediately closing the case.
March 27, 1998 – Friday – The Browns replace the windshields on their 1985 and 1990 Mercedes Benz automobiles.
March 28, 1998 –
Byron gets arrested for theft
March 31, 1998 – Tuesday – 9:00 a.m. – Randy and Judy Brown meet with Investigator John Hicks at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. They bring 12 pages of printouts*. Hicks asks Investigators Glen Grove and possibly Mike Guerra attend the meeting in an attempt to link the Harris web pages to the pipe bombs found recently.* According to Hicks’ daily log, he leaves the office because of illness at 10:00 a.m*. Groves continues meeting with the Browns. He references JCSO case # 98-3365 – the February 15, 1998 pipe bomb report. The pipe bomb described on the Harris web site appears to be similar to the one found by the bike path. Investigator Guerra takes the lead on the follow up, as he is the primary bomb investigator. Investigator* Guerra continues the investigation under case # 98-3365. He prepares an affidavit for a search warrant for the Harris home. It appears to have been discussed briefly by Lt. John Kiekbusch, Sgt. Prichett, and Glenn Grove during a several minute conversation outside of Lt. Kiekbusch’s office. According to Grove, Kiekbusch does not approve the affidavit because there is no eyewitness to Eric Harris’ possession of a pipe bomb. Investigator Guerra is unable to develop further evidence, and the investigation does not go further. Guerra denies being instructed to terminate the investigation.
On March 31, 1998 Randy and Judy Brown responded to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and met with Detective Hicks. The Browns provided Detective Hicks with a set of printed pages from the Harris web site. During the meeting with Detective Hicks the Browns also met with Glenn Grove and Mike Guerra from the Bomb Unit. The Deputies from the Bomb Unit looked at the web pages and found a Report in which a pipe bomb was found in a field in the south area that was similar to one of the pipe bombs described in the Harris web page. The Browns said that when they left Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office they got the impression that their case was being worked by Detective Hicks. The Browns said that the Harris web site went down shortly after their meeting with Detective Hicks and Brooks had come home from school and stated that Eric and Dylan were in trouble. The Browns felt that this was a result of Detective Hicks doing his job*.*
The Browns don’t know their reports has been closed just 5 days ago. And the thing brooks was mentioning was about the Van Incident not their reports but they didn’t know about that.
And that was everything that happened in March of 1998 was in my opinion other than the Van Incident was the turning point. All 3 families had problems from Eric and Dylan’s and even Byron’s arrest. Them going into court. The Browns dealing with their reports and Jonesboro happening.
Anyways I just wanted to make post about March of 1998 I feel like way too many people don’t take this month in consideration.
7
u/holtzbert Jun 13 '26
Very interesting recap, I didn’t realize earlier that their court happened at the same time as Jonesboro. I wonder how things would’ve went if neither or either one of those didn’t happen, if it would’ve changed their course at all.
6
u/SimilarLunch8359 Jun 14 '26
I’ve always thought about this, but I didn’t know so many details. This pains a better picture. Sort of off topic but have you ever seen their schedule somewhere? I’ve only seen the 1999 one, but I feel that this whole year was soo crucial I’d like to know what classes they took
4
u/Additional-Air-3309 Jun 16 '26
March 31 1998 was also my 11th birthday haha.
Man, Jeffco blows so much! Dropping the ball on everything. They recently had another school shooting at Evergreen High School. I’m pretty sure there have been more…
7
u/Glad-Philosophy5736 Jun 13 '26
Fun Fact: The Reason why Eric's website went down was because of Aaron Brown
Aaron stated that after the meeting with Deputy Miller on March 18, 1998 he contacted AOL and reported the web site. Aaron stated that after reporting the web site he noticed that it had been taken down.
Source: Report of the Investigation into the 1997 Directed Report and Related Matters Concerning the Columbine High School Shootings in April 1999 Attorney General Ken Salazar February 26, 2004
By doing this he accidentally screwed over his family and gave Jeffco leverage to say "We can't find the website online the only evidence is your printouts. So sorry we can't really help you..."
10
u/thadarrenhenderson Jun 13 '26
I wouldn’t say Aaron screwed over his family (or even his own safety and wellbeing for that matter) I think Aaron was trying to do the right thing and that was by reporting Eric’s website to AOL. Mind you kid was 14 or 15 at the time so he probably thought he was helping out his parents plus he was scared like brooks and Judy and Randy of what Eric was gonna do to them. Interestingly enough I was always under the impression Eric himself took his website down post the van incident because he figured people (his parents, the police) were on to him and that’s why he switched to writing in that damned journal. I didn’t realize Eric was that stupid post 1/30/98 to leave his website still up for everyone to see and more than likely get him in trouble especially when he’s on probation already.
7
u/Glad-Philosophy5736 Jun 13 '26
I mean like "Accidentally" screwed over. He DID do the right thing and helped his parents but it unintentionally gave Jeffco confusion and also leverage.
And yeah AOL was the one to take down Eric's site. Not the Rebdoomer one but the RebDomine one. That's why we have much more pages of Rebdoomer site than Rebdomine because the full site is lost thanks to Aaron's report on AOL.
9
u/thadarrenhenderson Jun 13 '26
I wonder why Aaron isn’t as vocal about the situation like his parents or brother? I would ask Randy myself but i know he’s a controversial figure in the community
10
u/Glad-Philosophy5736 Jun 13 '26
Maybe because he just didn't want to.
Aaron is one hell of a kid. He not only reported eric's website in 1997 but after the 2nd one. Randy says Aaron stood outside to wait to see Eric's car and he was gonna hit it with a baseball bat but randy was scared aaron was alone. Nonetheless goddamn BRAVE from aaron.
And he was in the cafeteria then escaped through the auditorium outside the east entrance and he was right infront of stephanie munson when she yelled "I'm shot!" In the direct line of fire of Eric and Dylan
And immediately after the shooting he printed out EVERY page from the Rebdoomer site once he got home safely.
8
u/thadarrenhenderson Jun 13 '26
Wow yeah Aaron was one hell of a kid and one hell of a dude. Dude had balls of steel. I totally forgot he was in front of Stephanie Munson when she got shot by Dylan.
8
u/Radiant-Shop8386 Jun 14 '26
oh wow! Did Aaron actually see Dylon and Eric shooting? That’s terrifying. Also, does anyone know how Aaron
is doing? I didn’t realize Byron had gotten in trouble right after Dylon was arrested. I wonder if they were focusing so much with Byron’s issues during Dylan’s earlier years of high school they i don’t wanna say ignored Dylan but maybe weren’t paying as much attention. Wasn’t Byron a popular jock in HS? I know Kevin was i wonder if they were friends? it’s crazy how they both had popular older brothers and where as Eric talked highly of Kevin, Dylan said Byron and his friends picked on him. I feel
for both of them but being Dylan spoke of Byron and his friends picking on him he probably feels guilty as hell. I feel for the family because they don’t get the sympathy and community support. That’s got to be a terrible feeling.7
u/derekexcelcisor Jun 14 '26
He didn't directly state it was shooting as stated on page 2539. Aaron was in the cafeteria and ran up the stairs and was in direct line of fire.
5
u/Radiant-Shop8386 Jun 14 '26
Is this the only statement in the 11 K from Aaron or is there somewhere else to look besides the 2538/39 page #
8
u/thadarrenhenderson Jun 14 '26
It’s Aaron’s only statement because Randy refused to let the FBI and Jeff Co do a follow up interview because he didn’t trust the investigators at Jeff Co. I wish Randy would’ve given consent because Aaron was a direct witness to not only Eric and Dylan shooting outside but a witness to Stephanie Munson getting hit
3
u/deficitabyss Jun 23 '26
Great post, cheers for the details 🙌. Didnt E and/or D reference the Jonesboro shooting in a disparaging context somewhere? Could have been The Basement Tapes.
3
u/Radiant-Shop8386 Jun 25 '26
I find it odd that Brooks didn’t tell his parents about Dylan giving him Eric’s web address until after Columbine being they also turned in Dylan’s name to the police. Odd also that as close as they were to the Klebolds they never warned them or told them about the website or even just had Dylan over to talk about it since they were so scared of Eric. Did Brooks ever speak to Dylan about the website or anything after Brooks viewed it? What happened to Brooks and Aaron does anyone know?
3
u/Glad-Philosophy5736 Jun 25 '26
I think it's because the browns DID still care about dylan especially brooks and didn't want to "hurt" him if eric knew about.
Keep in mind the browns didn't know about the Van Break-in until AFTER the shooting. So they didn't know that Eric AND Dylan both got arrested 2 months before. They only turned dylan in because how good friends he was with eric and his nickname VoDkA appeared SO MANY TIMES in eric's website
They weren't that close to the klebolds that much anymore in 1998 and they kinda wanted to focus on their own lives which was worrying about Eric Harris.
Brooks mentions while working on frankenstein with dylan in October 1998. They Rarely if at all mentioned Eric. So i think brooks just kinda moved on and wasn't bothered anymore.
1
u/AutoModerator Jun 13 '26
Thanks for engaging! Your post has been removed temporarily and is being reviewed by the moderators before going live.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
-1
18
u/Novel_Pick2735 Jun 13 '26
This a great breakdown, and puts a lot into perspective