Splatter Punks

Origin of "Splatterpunk"

According to Fangoria, the term "Splatterpunk" was coined in 1986 by David J. Schow at the Twelfth World Fantasy Convention in Providence, Rhode Island. It's a movement within the horror fiction genre that favors graphic and gory depictions of violence, including sexual violence. The idea of the Splatterpunk movement is to rebel against the way extreme violence is often merely implied, and show that violence instead. It's the most explicit gore you'll find in the horror genre.

Who are the Splatter Punks?

1. Matt Nalty [pp.7542-7644] (originally identified as "Matt Christianson")
2. Matt Akard [No interview available]
3. Jim Brunetti [pp.7433-7442]

These three individuals were apprehended in a field next to Columbine High School around 2:00 p.m., investigated as suspects, and were later cleared by police.

The Splatter Punks' story

Matt Nalty, Matt Akard, and Jim Brunetti claimed to have heard about the shooting on the news, at which time they decided to drive to the school. They claim they were at Brunetti's apartment picking up cigarettes when they heard about the shootings at Columbine from Brunetti's sister, who was watching the news. They weren't students at Columbine, but said they had friends who went to the school, specifically Brunetti's sister's ex-boyfriend, Anson, and wanted to see if their friends were okay. When they arrived and started walking toward the school, they were apprehended by police. They claim no knowledge of the incident.

Problems with their story

There is nobody named "Anson" interviewed in the 11k report. This cannot be verified.

Cork Chicota [pp.7461-7466]

A witness named Cork Chicota observed Nalty, Akard, and Brunetti park in the medical center plaza right around noon. This is exactly where they told investigators they har parked, but they claimed to have parked there much later. Chicota said they were all wearing black military attire and they stopped to talk with him and said something about how they were "in the area to help their friends at the school." (Source: p.7462)

The SPs told Chicota they attended Wheat Ridge High School, and Chicota advised there was a tall subject with "bad teeth" [Akard] who said he used to go to Columbine. Chicota stated the three males said they communicate with their friends often and knew something bad was going to happen at Columbine. When Chicota commented about how terrible the shooting was, one of the subjects said, "Yeah but they're getting even." After a few minutes, Chicota started to think their "friends" were the shooters.

Chicota's story matched the story that Akard, Nalty, and Brunetti told about talking with a man at the top of the dirt mound, however, the SPs claimed only to have asked the man about what was happening at the school. (Source: p.7465-7466)

Matt Nalty [pp.7542-7644]

Nalty was read his Miranda rights at 1406 by officer Moore and agreed to talk.

Nalty's story

He stated that he "sells cell phones at King Soopers" and arrived in Clement Park at 1350 after hearing about the shooting on the news. He said he lives in Broomfield and Akard and Brunetti live in the Northern part of the county. Nalty stated he picked them up and they all decided to come down to Columbine to see what was going on.

Nalty stated he drives a 1997 2-door hatchback white Ford Aspire. He said he parked by Swedish Hospital Clinic on Wadsworth and Bowles and walked over when he was contacted by law enforcement officers who took him into custody. (Source: p.7546-7547)

In a follow-up interview, Nalty stated that he went to Matt Akard's house to pick up Akard and Brunetti to drive to Littleton in order to pick up a birthday present from a friend of his mother's. Nalty's mother confirmed this on the phone with the officer. After he picked up Akard and Brunetti, they drove to Brunetti's house to pick up some cigarettes and then drove to Littleton. When Brunetti came out of his house, he told them about the shooting at Columbine and they left Arvada between 1250 and 1300 hours. He parked at the hospital because the roads were blocked off. Nalty claimed to be familiar with the area because his family used to live in a subdivision called Kipling Villa eight years prior. (Source: p.7548)

Nalty claims to have some "casual acquaintances" at Columbine.

When asked if he was acquainted with anyone from the Trench Coat Mafia, he stated, "No. That's a stupid name."

When advised that police were getting tips that he, Brunetti, and Akard claimed to be part of the Trench Coat Mafia and were planning a similar attack on Pomona High School, he said he had never made those statements even as a joke. (Source: p.7549)

Nalty's phone records were clean

Investigators obtained phone records for Nalty from his former employer and did not find any records matching the phone numbers for Harris, Klebold, and 13 of their associates. (Source: p.7551)

It should be noted that these phone records only go through 3-25-99.

Misc. details about Nalty

Nalty was originally identified as "Matt Christianson."

On page 9801 of the 11k, Nalty is listed as an associate of the TCM under Scott Erzen's reports:

Nalty, Matthew Joseph, dob/04-15-81

W/M 6'01" 175 BRO/BRO

SSN#unknown OLN#CO97-065-0591

5579 West 115th Avenue

Westminster, Colorado 80020

unknown phone Work: unknown

Erzen was told Nalty was an associate of Harris and Klebold.

Matt Akard [No interview available]

On page 17328, there is a lead that claims Akard was a student at Pomona High School and has been talking about another bombing that would happen at PHS on 4-26, 4-27, 4-29, and on the anniversary of Hitler's death (4-30). The lead states Akard wears a long black trench coat, claims to be a member of the Trench Coat Mafia, and was present outside of Columbine before the shooting.

Pages 18274 and 19307 contain leads from Cork Chicota, the man who encountered all three SPs at the top of a dirt hill.

Jim Brunetti [pp.7433-7442]

Brunetti was described as W/M 6'01", 160, BRO/BRO

No tattoos; scar on right palm

Was detained wearing a black waist-length jacket, green fatigue pants, knee-high black leather boots with green laces, a dog collar, and band patches that included an anti-swastika, Dead Kennedys, and Bad Religion.

A GRS kit was performed on Brunetti's hands and face and was documented as being "collected by unknown lab person." (Source p.7437)

Brunetti's story

Brunetti was escorted into a van for questioning by Jeffco S.O. Deputy A.R. Walker. The IO, investigator Eaton, met with Brunetti in the van as he was having his hands bagged for his GSR collection kit. He was read his Miranda rights and said he would like to tell his story.

According to Brunetti, he stayed the previous night at Akard's house. They woke up at 10:00 a.m. and Nalty called the house around 10:30 a.m. They were planning on going to a Drop Kick Murphy concert in Littleton.

Brunetti said that when they all went to his house so he could get his cigarettes, his sister was watching the news of the shooting. He said his sister had an ex-boyfriend named Anson who went to Columbine and they wanted to drive over there to see if he was okay. (Source: p.7438)

Note that there is nobody named "Anson" interviewed in the 11k.

Brunetti said that when they started walking toward some cops to ask them what was going on, they were all apprehended. They were released shortly after and told to leave the scene.

The cops followed Brunetti

A few days after being cleared, Brunetti called his IO and told him the cops were following him and said he wanted some kind of written statement that he and his friends were no longer suspects. The same IO received a call from Matt Nalty who also wanted to be officially cleared. The IO noted "I made no follow-up calls to Mr. Nalty." (Source: p.7439)

Appearance on Sally Jesse Raphael on April 30, 1999

Matt Nalty and Jim Brunetti were flown to New York City to be interviewed on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show. The episode was taped on Tuesday, April 27, 1999 and aired on Friday, April 30, 1999 on Channel 20 at 1:00 p.m.

Investigators taped the show to compare the stories told to the audience with their interviews and found their stories to be consistent. (Source: p.7440)

Nalty and Brunetti took a polygraph test

Nalty and Brunetti were given polygraph examinations as a condition of appearing on the Sally Jesse Raphael show.

Investigators requested these polygraph records from the company that administered them and found that Nalty gave truthful responses except for when asked if he had ever visited Harris or Klebold's website. His answer of "no" was inconclusive.

What's wrong with their polygraphs? Plenty

Nalty and Brunetti were given a generous "pass" on their polygraph examinations. The IO who requested their polygraph charts examined them and found that Nalty was deliberately altering his respiratory respiration and that the man who administered the polygraph to Brunetti was "generous" when scoring their tests, especially Brunetti's "direct involvement-you phase" chart. (Source: p.7545)

From Nalty's interview report:

Mr. Martin's report indicated that the relevant questions asked of both subjects in the Backster Direct Involvement "you phase" examination were:

a. Prior to the shootings at Columbine High School on April 20th, did you transport any guns or explosives into that school?

b. Did you yourself transport any guns or explosives into Columbine High School prior to the shootings on April 20th?

The relevant questions asked of both subjects in the Backster Exploratory examination were:

c.     Prior to April 20th, did you ever visit the Website of Harris and Klebold?

d.     Prior to April 20th, were you personally acquainted with either Dylan Klebold or Eric Harris?

e.     Prior to April 20th, did you know that the shootings at Columbine High School were gong to take place?

It was Mr. Martin's opinion that Matthew Nalty's "no" response to the relevant questions indicated for him to be answering truthful to them, all except for relevant question "c," which scored in the "inconclusive" range, Mr. Martin opined that Matthew Nalty was not deceptive in his response to any of the relevant questions.

It was Mr. Martin's opinion that James Brunetti's "no" responses to the relevant questions indicated for him to be answering truthfully to all of them.

After reviewing all of the polygraph charts from Matthew Nalty's examination, it is IO's opinion the subject appeared to be deliberately distorting his respiratory tracings in chart #1 and chart #2 of the exploratory examination and to relevant question #35 (b) on chart #2 in the direct involvement "you phase" examination. (Source: p.7544)

"It is the opinion of IO, after analyzing all of the polygraph charts and using a seven point scale in scoring Matthew Nalty's polygraph charts, that his responses to the relevant questions in the direct involvement examination were "inconclusive" and his responses to the relevant questions in the exploratory examination were truthful.

It is the opinion of IO, after analyzing all of the polygraph charts and using the seven point scale in scaring James Brunetti's polygraph charts, that his responses to the relevant questions in the direct involvement and the exploratory examinations were truthful.  However, it is IO's opinion that Mr. Martin is very generous to the subject in his scoring evaluation of all the tests, especially the direct involvement "you phase" charts." (Source: p.7545)

Who saw/encountered the Splatter Punks?

Law enforcement who encountered the SPs

• Scheieterman [pp.8095-8097]

Witnesses who saw the SPs before they went to Columbine

• Ken Greenwalt [pp.7487-7491] Greenwalt worked security for Swedish Medical Center. He said a nurse advised him of "three 'scary looking' subjects in a back parking lot. Greenwalt advised Investigator Eateon that he went to the window and observed the three males exit the previously mentioned vehicle [a white Ford Aspire license plate GCA9133]... Greenwalt advised Investigator Eaton that though he believed the subjects to be suspicious, they were not on the Swedish Medical property and therefore he did not contact them." -- "Greenwalt advised Investigator Eaton that he observed the three males stand on a small hill on the Western edge of Clement Park before wandering further into the park... he then observed the three subjects he had observed exit the Ford Aspire being arrested inside Clement Park. He advised that he witnessed the arrest via the television news... a time later, a time he is unsure of, he observed the three subjects returning to the Ford Aspire... when they began to enter the vehicle, he observed all three raise their fists in the air and wave them towards the school 'as if they were happy about what happened.'" (Source: p.7488-7489)

Witnesses who saw the SPs at Columbine

• Nancy Lindsey [pp.976-980]
• Sally Hocker [pp.7510-7513]
• Jennifer Tindall's brother [pp.3720-3727] From Jonathan McMaster's interview: In McMaster's interview, the IO discusses an interview with Kristen Schoenhoff, who said she spoke with Jennifer Tindall, who said her brother was at home during the incident and saw the three detained individuals walk past the house talking on cell phones. This was seen through a window facing the field behind the school. (Source: p.3727)

Witnesses who saw the SPs after the shooting

Matt Lohrenz [p.1505]

From Lohrenz' interview:

"Matt said that he and Jen Weinman and Lauren Johnson, from the math hall, and his sister Stephanie (Lohrenz) drove over to the public library in Jen Weinman's car He said that they were outside the library and Man had seen his dad. Jim Lohrenz, and his older sister, Ashley Brenning and brother in law, Brian Brenning. Matt said that they were all standing around talking and he saw three people walking down Bowles., about 50 yards away He said that they were looking at the people and grinning. He said that he didn't see them laughing. He described one as wearing a plain white t-shirt, with red suspenders, carrying a black coat with an orange liner over his shoulders, possibly wearing black shorts. Matt described his hair as blonde in a pony tail. Matt said that the other two were about the same height and both had black coats, but he could not describe them any further.

Man Lohrenz said that he thought the three guys that were arrested on 04-20-99 were probably the same three he saw near the public library. He also thought that the one with the blonde pony tail was on the Sally Jesse Rafael show on 04-30-99. He said that he wasn't sure about the other two, because he really didn't get a good look at them." (Source: p.1505)

Additional tidbits

On 4-17-99, two Pomona High School students were arrested for possessing explosives and had been "contacted in early AM hours at Pomona High School in fatigues. Claimed to be on maneuvers."

Investigators concluded that both subjects were facing criminal charges and had been interviewed, but there was no connection to the Columbine incident. (Source: 10k, p.17824)