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Lover Airs NIU Shooter's Letter

'Don't forget me,' killer told girlfriend in final love letter

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 18, 2008 6:48 AM CST
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(Newser) – The girlfriend of the gunman who murdered five students at Northern Illinois University Thursday talked to him every day last week, including the night before the shooting spree, and detected nothing amiss. "He wasn't erratic. He wasn't delusional. He was Steve; he was normal," Jessica Baty, 28, told CNN. Steven Kazmierczak, who killed himself after the carnage, sent her parting gifts and a love letter that read: "You've done so much for me, and I truly do love you. Don't forget about me!"

Baty said she and Kazmierszak transfered to the University of Illinois from NIU together, but she wasn't aware of any grudge he had against the school. He was seeing a psychiatrist monthly, and had stopped taking an anti-depressant 3 weeks ago because "it made him feel like a zombie." Baty said he was anxious but not violent. "He was worried about everything, he worried about me." He "was anything but a monster; he cannot be defined by his last actions," she told CNN tearfully. "I didn't think he was crazy," she added. "I still love him."

In this image made from TV and provided by CNN, Jessica Baty, former girlfriend of NIU shooter Steven Kazmierczak, talks to CNN on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008 in Wonderlake, Ill. (AP Photo/CNN)
In this image made from TV and provided by CNN, Jessica Baty, former girlfriend of NIU shooter Steven Kazmierczak, talks to CNN on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008 in Wonderlake, Ill. (AP Photo/CNN)   (Associated Press)
This undated image obtained from a MySpace webpage shows Steven Kazmierczak, who was identified by Florida authorities and a university official familiar with the investigation as the gunman who killed five people at Northern Illinois University. (AP Photo)
This undated image obtained from a MySpace webpage shows Steven Kazmierczak, who was identified by Florida authorities and a university official familiar with the investigation as the gunman who killed...   (Associated Press)
Jessica Baty, former girlfriend of Steven Kazmierczak, talks to reporters outside her parents home in Wonder Lake, Ill., on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Chicago Sun Times, Chris Sweda)
Jessica Baty, former girlfriend of Steven Kazmierczak, talks to reporters outside her parents home in Wonder Lake, Ill., on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Chicago Sun Times, Chris Sweda)   (Associated Press)
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antidepressant • Disney World • murder-suicide • Northern Illinois University • Steven Kazmierczak • criminal justice • Jessica Baty • Urbana-Champaign • shotgun • handgun • love letter • The Antichrist • Friedrich Nietzsche • campus shooting

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