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| Teen captured after girl’s parents found slain Police stop couple, arrest boyfriend; girl was ‘frantic, crying, screaming’ MSNBC staff and news service reports Updated: 5:57 p.m. ET Nov. 14, 2005 BELLEVILLE, Ind. - A Pennsylvania teenager suspected of killing his girlfriend’s parents in an argument over her curfew was captured in Indiana on Monday with the girl in his car after a police chase that ended in a crash. The 14-year-old girl was not hurt, authorities said. David Ludwig, 18, and Kara Beth Borden were taken into custody about midday after he crashed his parents’ car head-on into a tree in Belleville, some 600 miles from where the killings took place. Investigators said it was not immediately clear whether the girl was abducted or went along willingly, but they were operating on the assumption she was kidnapped. Borden was “just frantic, crying, screaming,” when police took the teens into custody, Indiana state trooper David Cox said. At a news conference with Indiana police, officials said Ludwig was being held in custody. “He has cooperated with the investigation,” state police spokesman 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten said. Borden will be returned to Pennsylvania and will talk to police there, he said. Because of her age, Indiana and Pennsylvania law requires a relative, guardian or attorney to be present. “It’s completely insane, completely insane,” Lancaster County, Pa., Coroner G. Gary Kirchner said earlier. “This isn’t a Romeo-and-Juliet deal. This is far worse than that.” Argument over curfew Authorities said Ludwig shot Kara’s parents, Michael F. and Cathryn Lee Borden, early Sunday after they and their daughter argued about her curfew when she came home late. The shootings happened at the family’s home near Lititz, Pa., about 60 miles west of Philadelphia. An alert for the girl was issued across the East, and police in Pennsylvania and Indiana investigated reported sightings of the pair as they made their way west in a red Volkswagen Jetta. They were stopped in Belleville, about 20 miles west of Indianapolis. Bursten said authorities received a report Monday morning of a vehicle matching that description at a truck stop near Fort Wayne. Troopers went to the area, but the car was gone. Information about the car was broadcast to police statewide, Bursten said, and troopers spotted it around midday in Belleville. Ludwig led them on a five-mile chase at speeds of 90 to 95 mph. Trooper David Cox said Ludwig was “very reckless, very dangerous at that point,” meeting vehicles head-on and running them into a ditch before he hit the tree. After officers pulled Ludwig from the car, Borden got out and was frantic, screaming and crying, Cox said. No weapons were found in the car. Police did not know why the pair was in Indiana. Kara’s 13-year-old sister, Katelyn, told investigators her parents were shot after they argued with Ludwig for about an hour, according to court papers. Katelyn said she saw Ludwig shoot her father, and then ran into the bathroom, where she heard a second shot, presumably the one that killed her mother, court papers said. Ludwig then ran through the house calling for Kara, she told investigators. The couple’s 9-year-old son ran to the neighbors, who called 911. Police late Sunday issued an arrest warrant for Ludwig on charges of criminal homicide and kidnapping. Teens hid relationship from parents Stephanie Mannon, 16, said Ludwig and Kara had been seeing each other secretly. “Their parents didn’t approve of them being together” because of the age difference, she said. “It wasn’t because he was a shady character, because he wasn’t.” Both Ludwig and Kara maintain Web sites. Hers refers to interests in soccer, art and her Christian faith; his says he enjoys “having soft air gun wars” and claims expertise in “getting in trouble.” The Bordens, both 50, were apparently shot once each in the head, authorities said. Mike Borden worked for a printing company, and the children were home-schooled, said neighbor Tod Sherman. Sherman said the family knew Ludwig through a home-schooling network. The Associated Press contributed to this report. © 2005 MSNBC.com |
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| The devil's music Does it matter that David Ludwig -- the 18-year-old alleged killer of his 14-year-old girlfriend's parents -- was a huge fan of hardcore Christian rock? By Daniel Radosh Nov. 24, 2005 | On the night of Oct. 6, David Ludwig, 18, and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Kara Beth Borden, went to church. There was no sermon, though -- at least not a traditional one. David and Kara were at the Lancaster Bible Church in Manheim, Penn., for a Christian rock concert. As the punishingly loud guitars of Audio Adrenaline and Pillar strained the limits of the church sound system, the kids screamed and pumped their fists and banged their heads. "Pillar and Audio A rock my face off!" David wrote on his blog the next day. Kara spent almost all the money in her pocket on a Pillar sweatshirt. She was wearing it the morning of Nov. 13 when, police say, David shot and killed her parents and fled with her at his side. If your only association with contemporary Christian music (CCM) is Amy Grant or Stryper, you might be surprised at how popular, varied and artistically mature the genre has become in the last 15 years. By some estimates, Christian music sales topped $720 million last year, making it a bigger niche than jazz and classical combined. For every genre of mainstream music there is a Christian parallel: rock, punk, reggae, folk, dance pop, gangsta rap. Pillar, named for the biblical description of God's household as "the pillar and foundation of truth," plays rap-core, a furiously propulsive mash-up of hard rock and rap. Musically, they are as creditable as many of their top-40 counterparts. Their lyrics testify to their faith in Jesus, a faith that David and Kara publicly share. It should go without saying that Pillar isn't even remotely responsible for David Ludwig's actions, any more than Marilyn Manson was responsible for Columbine. As CCM reaches an ever larger audience, the likelihood that some people in that audience will be deeply troubled increases proportionally. The CCM industry is already painfully aware that its fans are often no more virtuous than any other teenagers. A 2004 survey by the Barna Group found that "teen buyers of Christian music were just as likely as other teens to engage in music piracy." Nearly 80 percent of young people who purchase Christian music also download it illegally. Christian music is not just for goody-goodies anymore. But Christian rock doesn't just happen to find troubled kids in its audience, it reaches out to them. At a Christian music festival in Neodesha, Kan., two months ago, I watched as the singer of Seventh Day Slumber called on the people there to look into the darkest depths of their souls, that they may seek forgiveness. "If you've ever thought about suicide, put your hand in the air," he said, and they did, tears streaming down their faces. "If you've gone so far as to write a suicide note, put your hand in the air. If you've thought about killing yourself just this week, put your hand in the air." The dark undercurrents of secular thrash and emo music are not absent from the Christian versions, just channeled differently. Pillar ended its Oct. 6 set with a song called "Fireproof." It must have struck a chord in David. He posted the lyrics on his blog: I know where I stand and what'll happen if you try it I am FIREPROOF I know my heart and I just can't deny it I am FIREPROOF I tried to tell you but you wouldn't be quiet I am FIREPROOF I'll never bow down and you won't buy it I am FIREPROOF Like many edgier evangelical bands, Pillar specializes in battle anthems, composed on the premise that Christians are under constant spiritual attack. The emotional effects are remarkably similar to those of any secular odes to alienation and rebellion, and the vast majority of Christian teens who are drawn to such music, like the vast majority of their non-Christian peers, find comfort in the roiling cacophony that mirrors their inner lives; it helps them get through some difficult years in one piece. Any Christian artist can share legitimate and profound stories of young people who found genuine grace through their music. But there will always be a small fringe of disturbed people who are looking for an excuse to go over the edge, and who will find it in angry and tormented lyrics -- even if those lyrics are supposed to be about eternal salvation. It is still possible to find fundamentalist Christians who hold that all rock 'n' roll is the devil's music, and that CCM is only a more deceptive variety. The mainstream Christian culture industry, however, is too sophisticated and too profitable to turn its back on any form of musical expression. But with the proliferation of Christian music -- and books, movies, stand-up comedy, and pro wrestling -- the line between faith and sin has become blurred, and pop proselytizers will have to ask themselves if they are really changing hearts or just winning fans. Evangelicals justify their embrace of 21st century pop culture forms by saying that the Bible calls them to be "in the world, but not of it." This week, sadly, they are both. -- By Daniel Radosh |
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| Shortly after Michael and Cathryn Borden of Lititz, Pa., were slain by their daughter's boyfriend (David Ludwig), family and clergy – at least those who presented themselves to the media – indicated their readiness to forgive little Lizzie, I mean Kara Borden. Forgiveness at least implies some acknowledgment of wrongdoing. The media, for the most, wouldn't even impugn the girl. After the shootings, Borden hopped into her beau's get-away car. She told him she wanted to "get as far away as possible, get married and start a new life." Only after Borden was confronted with surveillance cameras did she confess to accompanying Ludwig of her own free will. The two had been involved in an intense sexual relationship. They were hopped-up on feelings of uniqueness and had a heightened sense of being misunderstood. In e-mail exchanges with girlfriends, Borden had intimated her woes would soon be over – by this, she meant the separation from Ludwig her parents had imposed. On the fateful day the boy executed the Bordens, an argument had ensued. The teens had stayed out all night, violating Kara's curfew. It now seems more than likely she had summoned the heavily armed Ludwig to the house. Before instant clemency came disbelief. Kevin Eshleman, the Borden's pastor, assured Paula Zahn (who investigates only in the sense that Larry King "interviews") that since he knew the teen personally, he could say with certainty she would never conspire against her parents in this manner. "It just is almost incomprehensible," he emphasized. Borden's brother's best friend also vouched for her. Said Kellymarie Conlon: "It's impossible to believe that Kara had any involvement in this at all." Scott Peterson's friends and family said the same of him. Practically every alleged criminal's kin repeat similar incantations. By now, we know these testimonials are worthless. Still, one can understand family and friends refusing to believe the cherubic 14-year-old was nothing but a victim in the squalid affair. But what excuse do the chronically incurious and uncritical media have in view of the emerging – and incriminating – evidence? "Probably none" is how MSNBC's Clint Van Zandt, a private investigator, evaluated Borden's possible involvement in the murders. The sentiment was seconded by John Kasich, sitting in for Bill O'Reilly. They were not alone. Out of liberal deference to youth, and Franco Zeffirelli's film, "Endless Love," some of them even called the two "the couple." At the funeral, family friend Bill Bradford waxed poetic about Kara's "ability to reach out in compassion and touch even the most unlovely people." They'd been touched by an angel, no less. Church elder David Sheaffer assured reporters that there was no strain between Kara and the other children and that the family was supportive, refraining from any finger-pointing. Acquaintance Vera Zimmerman contributed this corrosive cliche: "They were good kids ... they just made some bad choices." Oops. There was more talk of faith-dictated unconditional forgiveness. |
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| Christian Rock is bad people, if I listened to Creed that much I would probably flip out and kill people too. |