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Authors: Matthew Lysiak
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agreed that Adam, then sixteen, would live primarily with his mother, but that his father would have “liberal visitation and vacations.” True to his word, Peter continued to see his sons weekly, taking them skiing, hiking, rock climbing, to coin shows, and on overnight stays at his Stamford apartment until 2010, when Adam broke off contact with his father after Peter began seriously dating again. He also severed ties with his brother, Ryan, and his uncle James, whom he had been close to as a child.
The agreement also meant that Nancy would be financially taken care of for the rest of her life, which worked to the family’s advantage—both Nancy and Peter knew that she could never take on a full-time job and still care for their son. At the time of their divorce, Peter earned $8,556 a week. In 2010, he agreed to pay an annual alimony of $240,000, with increases each year. By 2012, he was paying $289,000, and after 2016, Nancy would receive an annual cost-of-living increase based on the 2015 alimony payment of $298,000 per year until he retired.
Peter and Nancy were also required to attend a parenting-education program, a standard practice in Connecticut. Both parents successfully completed the required sessions. In working through the terms of their divorce, they spent a considerable amount of time talking about how to provide for Adam’s well-being, said Paula Levy, a mediator who worked with the couple. During their meetings, Paula said they appeared to be on the same page regarding how to best address his needs.
“The mom, Nancy, pretty much said she was going to take careof him and be there as much as he needed her, even long term. She was very concerned about Adam, [but] both parents were very attentive to his needs. The [one] thing I remember them saying is that they really don’t like leaving him alone,” Paula said.
According to the divorce settlement approved by Judge Stanley Novak, Nancy would have the final say concerning any aspect of Adam’s upbringing. Peter agreed to pay the entire cost of his sons’ college and graduate school educations, and also agreed to purchase a car for Adam. Nancy was to cover the car insurance and cost of maintenance. The now divorced couple also agreed to divide their season Red Sox tickets; Nancy would get two tickets for five games in odd years and four games in even years. Peter moved to the affluent Stamford suburb of Westover and the family home at 36 Yogananda Street went to Nancy, who was to live there with Adam, as Ryan had gone off to college.
Then in 2010, Peter remarried. His second wife was Shelley Cudiner, a reference librarian and business liaison at the University of Connecticut’s Jeremy Richard Library. Nancy occasionally dated, but remained largely unattached. She was an independent woman who throughout her life had become accustomed to taking care of herself and depending on no one else. “Who has time for a serious relationship?” she’d said to a friend recently. “Besides, I have to be there for Adam. You always have to be there for your kids.”
Meanwhile, Adam’s time was becoming increasingly consumed by his computer, where his mother noticed him researching weapons, wars, and the military. “He’s fixated on becoming a marine,” Nancy told a friend, knowing that it could never happen.
She had tried a new specialist in Danbury in hopes of helping Adam, but again was let down. Still, Nancy kept holding out hope that a turnaround for her youngest son was just around the corner. “He’s too brilliant not to eventually succeed,” she told relatives.
CHAPTER 5
ENTER KAYNBRED
T he abrupt end of Adam Lanza’s high school career correlated with a new online persona, an alias he created named “Kaynbred” that began to reveal his growing fixation with violence.
Beginning in 2009, at the age of seventeen, Adam created this new fictitious user name and began frequenting Internet chat rooms that focused on violent video games, weapons,
The agreement also meant that Nancy would be financially taken care of for the rest of her life, which worked to the family’s advantage—both Nancy and Peter knew that she could never take on a full-time job and still care for their son. At the time of their divorce, Peter earned $8,556 a week. In 2010, he agreed to pay an annual alimony of $240,000, with increases each year. By 2012, he was paying $289,000, and after 2016, Nancy would receive an annual cost-of-living increase based on the 2015 alimony payment of $298,000 per year until he retired.
Peter and Nancy were also required to attend a parenting-education program, a standard practice in Connecticut. Both parents successfully completed the required sessions. In working through the terms of their divorce, they spent a considerable amount of time talking about how to provide for Adam’s well-being, said Paula Levy, a mediator who worked with the couple. During their meetings, Paula said they appeared to be on the same page regarding how to best address his needs.
“The mom, Nancy, pretty much said she was going to take careof him and be there as much as he needed her, even long term. She was very concerned about Adam, [but] both parents were very attentive to his needs. The [one] thing I remember them saying is that they really don’t like leaving him alone,” Paula said.
According to the divorce settlement approved by Judge Stanley Novak, Nancy would have the final say concerning any aspect of Adam’s upbringing. Peter agreed to pay the entire cost of his sons’ college and graduate school educations, and also agreed to purchase a car for Adam. Nancy was to cover the car insurance and cost of maintenance. The now divorced couple also agreed to divide their season Red Sox tickets; Nancy would get two tickets for five games in odd years and four games in even years. Peter moved to the affluent Stamford suburb of Westover and the family home at 36 Yogananda Street went to Nancy, who was to live there with Adam, as Ryan had gone off to college.
Then in 2010, Peter remarried. His second wife was Shelley Cudiner, a reference librarian and business liaison at the University of Connecticut’s Jeremy Richard Library. Nancy occasionally dated, but remained largely unattached. She was an independent woman who throughout her life had become accustomed to taking care of herself and depending on no one else. “Who has time for a serious relationship?” she’d said to a friend recently. “Besides, I have to be there for Adam. You always have to be there for your kids.”
Meanwhile, Adam’s time was becoming increasingly consumed by his computer, where his mother noticed him researching weapons, wars, and the military. “He’s fixated on becoming a marine,” Nancy told a friend, knowing that it could never happen.
She had tried a new specialist in Danbury in hopes of helping Adam, but again was let down. Still, Nancy kept holding out hope that a turnaround for her youngest son was just around the corner. “He’s too brilliant not to eventually succeed,” she told relatives.
CHAPTER 5
ENTER KAYNBRED
T he abrupt end of Adam Lanza’s high school career correlated with a new online persona, an alias he created named “Kaynbred” that began to reveal his growing fixation with violence.
Beginning in 2009, at the age of seventeen, Adam created this new fictitious user name and began frequenting Internet chat rooms that focused on violent video games, weapons,
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