Go To home page for THE COLUMBINE GUIDE: An insider's guide through the web of myths, legitimate evidence, and contradictory media coverage surrounding Columbine. It features a wealth of evidence about the killers, Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold, and what they intended with Columbine. It includes Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's journals and some videos (not The Basement Tapes), 911 tapes, thousands of pages of police reports, the Jeffco Sheriff's report, the FBI report, and information on other school shooters.
MAIN   .    SUMMARY   .    RECENT   .    ALL-IN-1   .    EVIDENCE   .    MEDIA   .    ACQUIRE   .    COMMENT

An insider's guide through the web of myths, legitimate evidence, and contradictory media coverage surrounding Columbine.


SUMMARY
WHAT YOU KNOW IS WRONG

As I wrote about Columbine for Slate, Salon and the New York Times, I discovered that much of what had been published was wrong. I have spent much of the past eight years covering the story, and writing a book to be published in 2008 by Dutton (Penguin). I share much of what I learned through that research here. First, a quick overview:

On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold attempted to blow up the Columbine High cafeteria at the peak of lunch hour, gun down the fleeing survivors, and then blow up rescue workers attending to the wounded. Fortunately, they were exceptionally poor bomb-makers, and most of the plan failed.

Chaos followed, and much of the early reporting was wrong. Nearly everything reported about what the killers were trying to do and why was wrong. Most of the truth finally came out, but all the myths remain in print. The biggest challenge in researching Columbine is knowing which sources to trust. This guide is designed to help you navigate the good from the bad. First, an overview of what happened . . . MORE SUMMARY.


CONTENTS

This guide is organized into several pages, summarized below. The nav bar up top will zip you to any page, or click on the link that begins each entry:

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: The latest news stories, and recently-released material. It links to the 1,000 pages released in July 2006, including the journals by Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold and Wayne Harris. (I also provided the page numbers to find those items.) and Dylan's journals.

ALL-IN-1 STORIES: Start here if you want an overview. These magazine-style pieces lay out much of what we know and a handful of well-written stories. They appeared in GQ, Time, Slate, Salon, the Rocky Mountain News and Denver's alt weekly Westword. A few films are also featured.
Related sites by Dave Cullen
Go To Dave Cullen's Author Page — Home. Includes links to my blog, bio, Columbine book preview, The Columbine Guide, evidence about Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold, information on other school shooters, etc.
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EVIDENCE: This page directs you to all the detailed evidence, like the thousands of pages of police reports, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's journals, Eric's drawings, their day-timers, Dylan's gruesome story for English class that foreshadowed the murders, etc. It also links to several key reports, by the FBI, Jeffco Sheriff and others. Finally, it identifies several trusted sites with links to a wealth of additional information.

MEDIA ARCHIVES (Newspapers & Magazines) : Most of the important local and national papers and magazines have a special Columbine archive of some type. In most cases, it contains links to several highly-significant stories. A few, such as the Rocky Mountain News, offer a complete archive of their Columbine coverage. This page includes link to the archives of NY Times, CNN, Westword, RMN, Salon, Denver Post, Time and Boulder Daily Camera.

ACQUIRE PHYSICAL COPIES.: As of May 2007, the Jeffco Sheriff's office has released 23 separate batches of information, any/all of which they will send you for a small fee. Most cost about $15 (each)—acquiring everything will set you back about $400. This page lists the entire inventory, with prices, and ordering information. It also links to the Jeffco website (but they change the links with annoying frequency, so I keep the info on this page as a backup.) Material includes 911 audio tapes, videos of Eric & Dylan (but not The Basement Tapes), tens of thousands of pages of police files (on DVD), lab reports, autopsy reports, all the warrants (they fill a thick book), Eric and Dylan's journals, DA reports from the killers' Diversion Program, etc. (Note: don't miss the handful of key items at the bottom from other agencies.)

COMMENT: Join the discussion, or post a question. I created the comments page after I began this Guide in 2003, and you can peruse from the beginning, or join in at the end. There are two threads: #1 is full, so don't try to post there: OTHER SITES OF INTEREST: These sites are not officially part of the guide, but may be useful. Please consider supporting the memorial. (And requires a link for me to appear on their Columbine list.)

NOT AVAILABLE

There are a few things you won't find here—or anywhere else. (The last item is the exception; it can be found):

  • The Basement Tapes. Neither tapes nor transcripts have been released. However, a pretty detailed summary exists in a police report in the evidence section, and they were described in several news reports. (These are the videos Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold made explaining what they were up to with Columbine. Much of the footage was shot in Eric's basement, and the name stuck.) The case went all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court, which sent it back to the Jeffco Sheriff in 2006. (Links to insight on that here.) The current sheriff agreed to release Eric and Dylan's journals, but not the tapes. The suit had been brought by The Denver Post, and they chose not to appeal, so things look grim for awhile.

  • The "Nixon Tape". The night before Eric Harris died, he recorded some thoughts on a microcassette, which he labeled "Nixon," and left on the kitchen table. The official sheriff's report quotes a few lines from it, and it is logged in the police files, but otherwise, its contents remains a mystery.

  • Transcripts from the parents: Wayne & Kathy Harris, and Tom & Sue Klebold. As a final settlement with five holdout families, the killers' parents answered questions in a deposition that lasted several days. It was a closed session, and the plaintiffs gained entry by agreeing to a gag order. In April 2007, a federal judge ruled that the transcripts would be sealed for another 20 years, then released. Only the small audience in that room knows what the parents divulged, and there have been no leaks. Some of the parents have said that the information was revelatory, and have repeatedly called on the Harris and Klebold families to make it public. Nothing yet.

  • Crime-scene photos of the killers' bodies. This is the one item on this list that you can find elsewhere. These photos were not officially released, but were leaked. You can find them on the web, but you won't get them from me.



Written and compiled by Dave Cullen. Copyright 2003-2007.
Columbine collage photos from the Rocky Mountain News. Dave Cullen logo by Jimmy/Gnash. Columbine Guide logo by Dave Cullen.

This site was formerly called the Columbine Navigator and Almanac.

Contact: dave@davecullen.com
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