Washington state fifth graders plotted to kill girl, authorities say

[Alcibiades]

18. My wife is a forensic psychologist

She talks shop a lot, and reviews a lot of collateral material for the opinions she offers in federal court. When your very first crime is something like rape or murder, and it is at such a young age, it does not bode well for your future. Rehabilitation is real, but for someone like this? It's hard. It may be that one of the boys was the prime mover in this and the other was a follower, and this may not count as an attempted murder, "only" conspiracy, but this is not one of those cases of authorities overreacting. It's deeply troubling, and at least one of these boys has a serious problem that will probably last a lifetime. Hopefully they will never have the chance or inclination to end anyone else's lives in the future.

Homicidal ideas are fairly normal, but for kids this young to get as far as they did is a sign of some serious problems. One would think that at least one of them would have told someone because they realized it's wrong to kill someone over a matter of hurt feelings.