Laurie Dann

Wasserman was born October 18, 1957, in Chicago and grew up in Glencoe, a north suburb of Chicago.

She was the daughter of Edith Joy, and her husband, Norman Wasserman, an accountant.

Those who knew Wasserman described her as shy and withdrawn.

She graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, in 1975, and although she had poor grades in high school she was able to attend Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

When her grades improved, she transferred to the University of Arizona with the goal of becoming a teacher.

She began dating a pre-med student, and the relationship soon became serious, but she was becoming possessive and demanding.

In the summer of 1977 she attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, taking a course in home economics.

Corwin was born on April 9, 1980, to Joel and Linda Corwin.

In school he was an athlete known for his sportsmanship and skill.

Corwin is the namesake of a popular soccer field and playground in Winnetka.

According to a report in People magazine, 1,500 people attended his funeral.

Shortly after his death, playing on the meaning of his name (“giver of gifts”) his friends and schoolmates created a book, The Gifts that Nicholas Gave.

He was remembered for his sportsmanship, kindness, and leadership.

Classmates remembered Corwin for his exemplary play.

One told a reporter that the other children would not be able to play fairly, because Nick was the one who knew all the rules.

He is interred at Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, Illinois.

Following his death, Winnetka passed a handgun ban, which stood until D.C. vs Heller and subsequent NRA lawsuits.

In 1980, with the relationship failing, Wasserman moved back to her parents' home.

She then transferred to Northwestern University to complete her degree, but she dropped out of all her classes and never graduated.

She met and married Russell Dann, an executive in an insurance broker firm in September 1982, but the marriage quickly soured as Russell's family noted signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder and strange behavior including leaving trash around the house.

She saw a psychiatrist for a short period, who identified her childhood and upbringing as a cause of her problems.

Laurie and Russell Dann separated in October 1985.

The divorce negotiations were acrimonious, with Laurie claiming that Russell was abusive.

In the following months, the police were called to investigate various incidents, including several harassing phone calls made to Russell and his family.

In April 1986, Dann accused Russell of breaking into and vandalizing her parents' house, where she was then living.

Shortly after, she purchased a Smith & Wesson Model 19 .357 Magnum, telling the salesman that she needed it for self-defense.

The police were concerned about her gun ownership and unsuccessfully tried to persuade Dann and her family that she should give up the gun.

In August 1986, she contacted her ex-boyfriend, who was by then a resident at a hospital, and claimed to have had his child.

When he refused to believe her, Dann called the hospital where he worked and claimed he had raped her in the emergency room.

In September 1986, Russell Dann reported he had been stabbed in his sleep with an icepick.

He accused Laurie of the crime, although he had not actually seen his attacker.

The police decided not to press charges against Laurie based on a medical report which suggested that the injury might have been self-inflicted, as well as Russell's abrasive attitude towards the police and his failed polygraph test.

Russell and his family continued to receive harassing hang-up phone calls, and Laurie was arrested for calls made to Russell's sister.

The charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

Just before their divorce was finalized in April 1987, Laurie accused Russell of raping her.

There were no physical signs supporting Laurie's claim, although she passed two polygraph tests.

In May 1987, Laurie accused Russell of placing an incendiary device in her home.

Nicholas Brent Corwin was an eight-year-old boy shot and killed by Laurie Dann, a mentally ill woman, in a Winnetka, Illinois, elementary school on May 20, 1988.

Dann also shot several other students, all of whom survived, then took a family hostage and set a fire in their house before committing suicide.

Earlier that day, she had tried to poison several acquaintances and set fires in a school and a daycare.