A 17-year-old girl and her 19-year-old boyfriend pleaded guilty on Friday to beating, stabbing and killing the girl’s grandparents in their home near Atlanta.
Cassandra Bjorge and Johnny Rider admitted to murdering Wendy and Randall Bjorge in Lawrenceville, Georgia in April 2017.
Only Rider apologized for his crimes, while Cassandra Bjorge cried and declined to speak when given the opportunity, WSBTV reported.
‘I would like to express my deepest apologies to the Bjorge family. I’m so sorry for the pain and grief I have caused all of you,’ Rider, said. ‘I know what I have done is abominable and evil and is deserving of hellfire.’
The two were both sentenced to life in prison.
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Cassandra Bjorge (left), 17, and Johnny Rider (right), 19, admitted on Friday to savagely beating and murdering Bjorge’s grandparents, Wendy and Randall Bjorge, near Atlanta in April 2017
Cassandra Bjorge was living with her grandparents at the time of the fatal attack.
The last message anyone received from Wendy Bjorge was sent to her daughter, Sylvia Bjorge Berman, moments before the two teens took their lives.
Wendy Bjorge appeared to reference the situation she was dealing with, with her granddaughter, texting her daughter, saying:
‘I’m going to bed soon. Maybe tomorrow will be better. All I can do is hope for the best and expect the worst. It shouldn’t be this hard for any of us.
The Bjorge’s children, who are Cassandra Bjorge’s aunts and uncles, said they continue to be ‘haunted’ by what happened.
The teen girl had reportedly been living with her grandparents at the time of their killing, to get away from trouble in Duluth, Georgia.
Cassandra Bjorge had reportedly been living with her grandparents at the time of their killing, to get away from trouble in Duluth, Georgia
Leading up to the attack, WSBTV reported there were instances of physical attacks by Cassandra Bjorge (pictured) against the grandparents
Leading up to the attack, WSBTV reported there were instances of physical attacks by Cassandra Bjorge against the grandparents.
On the night of their deaths, Rider and Cassandra Bjorge waited until the lights were turned out in the home, before entering the home where the teen had been living, beating her grandparents with their fists and a tire iron, stabbing them multiple times and eventually slitting their throats.
The two later bleached the bodies of Cassandra Bjorge’s grandparents and sealed the room with caulk to hide the smell of their decaying bodies, while they ordered takeout, smoked marijuana and invited friends over to the home for days of parties before they were arrested.
Cassandra Bjorge and Rider reportedly tried to kill themselves in a standoff with the SWAT team, but did not succeed and were taken into custody a week after Wendy an Randall Bjorge’s deaths, AJC.com reported.
If the case had gone to trial, Rider may have faced the death penalty.
Cassandra Bjorge could have only gotten life in prison, as she received at sentencing on Friday, because she was a minor at the time the crime occurred.
Judge Debra Turner said this was the worst case she’s come across in her career, and took little time to interact with the teenage murderers
Judge Debra Turner said this was the worst case she’s come across in her career, and took little time to interact with the teenage murderers.
‘I’m not sure I’ve ever imagined such a well-planned, despicable, heinous act to be committed by two such young people,’ she said.
‘The heartless and depraved nature of what the two of you did says to me it’s not worth my time.’
They each pleaded guilty to charges of murder, aggravated assault and theft.
‘Your behavior lacks any sense of humanity or morality,’ Turner told the pair after they entered their pleas.
The former couple’s initial charges also included armed robbery and aggravated battery, but those charges were dismissed.
Cassandra Bjorge and Rider were each sentenced to two life sentences with the possibility of parole in 60 years, plus 21 years to be served concurrently with the life sentences.
The two reportedly each blame each other for the calculated attack and murder of Wendy and Randall Bjorge.
Drugs may have played a role in the murders, WSBTV reported.
Cassandra Bjorge and Rider were each sentenced to two life sentences with the possibility of parole in 60 years, plus 21 years to be served concurrently with the life sentences