Bob CollinsSince his arrest in early 2014 on the suspicion that he was planning an attack on his high school, we have not heard from John LaDue, who is now trying to put his life back together.
Until today.
“That was a very bad decision,” he tells the Waseca County News.
His plan started as a plot to kill his parents, then set fires as a distraction.
Now, LaDue is taking classes to learn welding.
He has a mental illness, the experts say. But he’s taking no medication for it and a few weeks ago, a judge consented to his request to end LaDue’s probation. In exchange, a felony conviction for possessing explosives stays on his record. He’ll get no mental health treatment.
“Every therapist I’ve met has been a very agreeable person,” LaDue tells the paper. “I don’t doubt their credentials at all, but I think they’re wrong. I think I know what’s in my best interests.”
He says “at the time, I was pretty naive on the issue of mental illness.”
“It boils down to two factors,” LaDue said. “Intellect and community. I had intellect, but I was incorrect in believing that having a sense of community, such as caring for others, was a bad thing.”
“The whole thing is gradual,” LaDue said of his attempt to return to the good graces of Waseca. “You can’t point to one thing or another and wish it was different. It was, of course, ridiculous and unpleasant. Yup, I’ve wasted a lot of time and money. And yes, if I had my options to do it over, I would not have it happen.”
