Tag: Nate Dykeman

Yoshi Carroll – In Dylan’s Shadow

While videoing the Basement Tapes on March 18, 1999, the boys “then go on to discuss “Yoshi” in a negative fashion”…… 

Nate Dykeman was asked by the authorities if he knew of an individual by the name of Yoshi.  Dykeman explained that Yoshi had to be Yoshi Carroll. Yoshi was a friend of Dykeman’s who came to Littleton from Romania at approximately the same time that Dykeman moved to Colorado in the 8th grade.

Nate describes Yoshi as “a real nice guy who is involved in movies and the drama club.  He is also a real smart math wizard” but offers that he does not know of any association between Yoshi with Dylan and Eric.  He recalled that “Eric and Dylan would not say anything derogatory about Yoshi in front of himself because they both knew that Nate and Yoshi were friends.”  Incidentally, Andrew “Andy” Robinson, who participated heavily in coordinating school plays, who was Rachel Scott’s acting mentor, and who went on to write and direct the 2009 movie ”April Showers” about a look inside a tragedy through the eyes of a survivor, based on the actual events of picking up the pieces in the aftermath of school violence, was Yoshi’s best friend.

 

Yoshi Carroll

mentioned that Zack Heckler, a friend of Eric and Dylan’s, was in his first-period Psychology class at 7:30 a.m. (this would’ve been around the time that Dylan, Eric, and Nate were finishing up early morning bowling class). Yoshi mentioned that (during this time period of spring ‘99)

he works the sound board in the auditorium at the school for the drama department and that Heckler works the lights, so they work in conjunction with each other.     

He mentioned that they had finished work on the latest school play, ‘Smoke in the Room,’ in which Rachel Scott was in the starring role. (See below*)   
Zack Heckler stated to him, “Ya know, up until now I really didn’t like you, but now I think you are okay.”  After which point, he and Heckler get along very well now. He then advised that he did not notice anything strange about Heckler on April 20th but he could not recall if he was in psychology class with him on that date.

Yoshi had second period free (during which time Dylan was in Calculus class and Eric, Advanced Video Productions) and that he probably wandered the school some, went to the Tech Lab to do some work. He also recalled visiting the library for about an hour studying, during his free period.

Yoshi Carroll had known Dylan Klebold since the 8th grade when he’d newly moved to the area. He had been in Algebra class together with Dylan at Ken Caryl Junior High. He never saw much of Klebold in high school though, until their senior year.  Yoshi advised that Klebold was the sound man for the school plays and often worked the soundboard.  He said that Zack Heckler had told him that Dylan was no good at the job (though) but loved it. He believes that Zack Heckler told the teacher that Dylan was not very good as a soundboard man and suggested that Yoshi Carroll to take Klebold’s place.

During the previous school year, Klebold, Heckler and another student whom he believed to be Chris Tabaldo, maintained the school’s web server and web page. Yoshi advised that those three students had given themselves access to the web server and had sent e-mail bombs out to other locations and were hacking into the Jefferson County School District computers and that the three had lost their job administering the computers due to the hacking.  (Note, this actually would have to have been October ’97 when Zack, Dylan, and Eric had gotten busted for the locker hacking incident and not only had their computer admin jobs revoked but were suspended from school for 3-5 days. Yoshi does not appear to know exactly what happened and only that they lost their computer admin duties for hacking.)  At the beginning of the school year, Yoshi’s senior year (’98-99), he went to teacher Mr. Rich Long, who ran the computer programs and asked if you could maintain the system to learn more about computers. He was granted the job by Mr. Long. [Intriguing redacted paragraph…..!?!?!]

Yoshi advised that Zack Heckler has been over his house on numerous occasions since the incident at Columbine High School and that one of his friends, Devon Adams, had been coming to his house often since the incident occurred.  He advised that on one occasion she received a telephone call at his residence and began crying after she hung up the phone. [Intriguing redacted paragraph…..?!?!?!?]

Since the incident had occurred, numerous friends had been socializing at his (Yoshi’s) house each day and helping each other out.  A few noted socializing at his residence were: Zack Heckler, Devon Adams, Andrew Robinson, Eric Veik, Nick Baumgart and Sarah Bay. 

More under the cut

I found it very interesting that Yoshi Carroll paralleled Dylan with a few similar abilities and interests. Like Dylan, Yoshi was a extremely bright at math and Nate described him as ‘a real smart math wizard’. Yoshi my have even been gifted at least in that area.  The two had been in the same math class in 8th grade junior high.  Also, like Dylan, Yoshi was into movies and participated in the drama club as a behind-the-scenes stage technician.  During Yoshi’s senior year of ’98-99, the last months of Dylan’s life, Yoshi mentions he’d cross paths with Dylan the most ever at Columbine since junior high school days. This is likely because they were collaborating on stage tech duties for theater productions.

 At some point, Zack declared to Yoshi that he decided he liked and accepted him. It’s possible too, that Eric and Dylan had previously talked smack about Yoshi behind his back to Zack, who was probably, initially biased against the guy. That is until he realized while working with him in theater that he wasn’t so bad after all. We also get the sense from how Yoshi words everything in his account  that Zack seemed to think Dylan dominated the soundboard, like he felt it was his domain sitting in the chair in the Sound Room and also that from Zack’s pov, Dylan wasn’t ‘all that’ at it as perhaps he thought he was.   Zack, as the long-standing lights production guy, seems to make the arbitrary decision that it’s time to phase Dylan out and to pass on sound production opportunity to his new friend Yoshi.

Zack even went so far as to appeal to a theater teacher, “Mrs C”,  in favor of Yoshi assuming what had been Dylan’s responsibilities for a few years.   I wonder how well that whole political thing went down and whether it soured things for Dylan participating in theater production as he was being given the messge to phase out of it. I suspect that Dylan did not participate in the theater production in his second semester of senior year which would have been January until his death in April ’99. It’s unclear whether he still assisted or not especially as to whether he assisted on the last production that took place weeks before the massacre ‘Smoke in the Room’. (See below)* 

If Dylan (along with Eric) didn’t like Yoshi to begin with, for whatever their reasoning, Yoshi’s eclipsing Dylan in taking over the soundboard role must have made Dylan personally feel resentful of him.  It is unclear if Dylan knew that Zack had, behind-the-scenes, personally had been proactive in phasing him out in favor of Yoshi.  And this begs the question as to why Zack was being two-faced with Dylan. Why would he do such a thing if Dylan was his close friend? Unless, he didn’t really didn’t feel the same way about Dylan as Dylan did about him. But it is certainly puzzling when you consider that Zack made a point ot initiating late night phone calls with Dylan every night as they played computer games over the internet and chatted.   But this wouldn’t be the first time that Zack dissed Dylan behind his back.  The other time he dissed Dylan was in his own Jeffco 11K eyewitness account in which he advised the investigator that “Dylan had wanted to go to college and study computer science, but he (Zack) did not think he was smart enough.” See [here] and [here].

It certainly would be interesting to know exactly how Zack felt about Dylan the last few months leading up to the massacre.  Perhaps even though he stayed in touch with Dylan, Zack had lost faith in his (former best?) friend because of some of the things he’d observed about him and judged him for: such as Dylan inability to focus and maintain decent grades as he himself was doing, or his propensity for drinking, his cutting classes but also for the fact that Dylan was still associating pretty tightly with Eric ( even after Devon had felt threatened and turned off by Eric).  Perhaps the racism and superiority thing rubbed off on Dylan while working theater with Zack as Yoshi was nearby. Of course, after Eric gave Zack the cold shoulder on the heels of the locker hacking incident, Zack had distanced himself from Eric and by extension, Dylan too – so, perhaps more than we know about.   Maybe Zack just thought Dylan was a lazy slacker that he felt seemed overly entitled to lording over the soundboard, and so he’d lost faith in Dylan and his honing his abilities and motivation to excel at anything in life.  It’s difficult to say. One thing is for sure, it certainly would be the holy grail for the opportunity to interview Zack Heckler!  It is just so puzzling how there are two incidents where Zack has thrown Dylan under the bus.  And yet, Dylan, according to his writings, he still saw Zack as his best friend ever who had abandoned him…perhaps, all the while, never knowing Zack had very little faith in him, for whatever reasoning.

What’s worse is that Yoshi also saw a opportunity of moving in on that vacant computer administration role at CHS to learn more about computers.The very same position that teacher Rich Long had taken away from Dylan due to computer hacking with Zack and Chris Tabaldo in his junior year.  Sue had mentioned in her book that Dylan was utterly sad and despondent about losing this job.  Sue had hoped that they would’ve allowed him to keep it while giving him a second chance as he made amends.   

There were very few things that Columbine offered Dylan that he found a spark of enjoyment to do.  Two of those things that he had been participating in had, with time, been usurped by an eager Yoshi Carroll.  Yoshi, the dude that had similar talents to Dylan – hell, they might have been friends if circumstances were different.  But instead, Yoshi eclipsed and surpassed Dylan at computer administration and as the sound man so that by the second semester of senior year, there wasn’t any participatory role left for Dylan to do that sparked any sort of personal interest or passion that he would’ve personally wanted to excel at because he got some sort of enjoyment from it.  The few things he’d dug were transitioned to Yoshi, his replacement.  And incentally, even the screenplays that he, Brooks and Zack were writing and trying to appeal to a local theater to allow them to host, were turned down. It’s as if there was nothing left for him to enjoy and feel accomplished about.  This all dovetails with the time period of January ’99 in which Sue mentions in her book that Dylan seemed very low energy and had seemed, in retrospect, to have spiraled deeper into his depression as she noted he was oversleeping a great deal or she discovered him sitting with that 1000 mile stare.

Given all of that, it is not at all surprising that Dylan and Eric bashed Yoshi on their Basement Tapes rants. Although, it’s rather surprising that Yoshi does not appear to be on either boys’ hit list – least not as unredacted (at least not that I have seen anyway)  I’m sure the two must have said a lot of nasty, derogative, things about the dude. Dylan, in particular, would’ve had adequate reasoning to blow off quite a bit of steam about that opportunistic Yoshi, the foreigner who probably had a fairly substantial Romanian accent. This weird guy they probably felt didn’t deserve to be in their country just kinda moves in on Dylan’s roles at school.  

You can well imagine that he must have had a chip on his shoulder about Yoshi.  He and Eric knew that Nate was friends with him, and Dylan surely must have sensed that tipping point when Zack began to warm up/cozy up to Yoshi too (?)  Eventually, Dylan wasn’t working sound to Zack’s light anymore as a friendship duo.   And after the massacre, Yoshi appeared to have a few key friends of Dylan’s over his house.  

Yoshi and Dylan: these two could have easily had been friends with similar interests and abilities yet instead, Yoshi crept up into Dylan’s shadow, eventually eclipsing his only passions at school and the guy probably had no inkling whatsoever that he was infringing on Dylan. 

—-

*Regarding the Smoke in the Room play that Rachel Scott started in just weeks before the massacre on April 2-3, ‘99, it’s unclear as to whether Dylan participated in the light or sound for it.   According to Sarah Bay in this post here, Dylan assisted with lights, which was usually always Zack’s job as Dylan’s was sound.  However, Yoshi claims that worked sound and Zack his usual lights for this play.  Whether Dylan was even involved with this play at all in some manner is unclear now because of this eyewitness discrepancy. 

At last! I’ve located the 60 Minutes interview featuring that Nate Dykeman interview.  Among other goodies; 🙂

  1:12 sharper senior photos of Eric posed by the bench
30:04 – Brooks Brown, Randy and Judy Brown interviews
35:51 – two more clearer Eric senior photo
34:02 – Nate Dykeman interview (yes that one!)
34:44 – Devon Adams interview – reported Eric to the school; clearly no love.

I found this 60 minutes to be pretty interesting thorough show.  They really pursue and demonstrate to us how unquestionably poor Jeffco police/SWAT handled Columbine. Lives were lost due to their lack of action.  They justify it as following the protocol they had in place which is basically a passive ‘wait and see’ response but no adequate excuses can be given to justify the lives that were lost because of their lack of flexibility in an emergency situation. Their fuck up cost their own children’s lives. Some of those cops had children in that school too!  The poor parents, two years in and filled with grief, still do not understand how police could’ve stayed outside waiting hours to get the green light to go into the school and do their job.  Even then, the cops went in on the far/east side of the school (where none of the action occurred) and slowly combed through. Such a waste of time and resources.  Today, Eric and Dylan would not at all have had the upper hand they were given by the authorities back in ‘99.  It’s amazing when you think of E and D walking around lazily in the cafeteria trying to get the bombs to explode when they could clearly see the cops surrounding the school from the cafeteria windows.  They must have continually wondered why in the back of their minds that no confrontation was happening. They were ruling the roost for far longer than any school shooter today would be allowed to.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

The Morning Ritual cut/uncut comparisons

Clip One is the edited version (the usual one we see online). The music swells and masks over their convo.

Clip Two includes the evidence of an unedited audio version with faint bits of Dylan and Nate chatting in as they drive around the parking lot talking about parking spaces.  Nate says “parking lot” and Dylan says “..space. heh.”

This was in the 2002 A&E documentary called Columbine: Understanding Why in which a Threat Assessment Task Force comprised of various psych experts collaborate and try to examine the psyche of the boys and to try and pinpoint their motivations.

Credit: TheDocumentariesRus for use of the second clip.

Have you ever found the uncut version of the morning ritual video?

Yes, there is an ‘uncut’ version of the Morning Ritual video clip. 🙂 However, it was never released to the public.  Jeffco and the media apparently have access to this version as it was footage used for a Columbine documentary.  While watching this particular doc, I was a bit tickled when I discovered that as Dylan and Nate were driving into the parking lot of CHS, you don’t just hear the swell of Pulp Fiction Bullwinkle Pt. II music but instead, you can hear Nate and Dylan idly chit chatting about locating a parking space.  I would imagine their entire conversation was present in the full at-least audio version the media has access to.  I will post the video in a separate post – with a side-by-side comparison of the audio edited internet version that the public knows of and is accustom to versus the ‘uncut’ audio version of the clip.  Keep in mind, you won’t hear a whole lot because the narrator talks over the segment but you catch glimpses of Dylan and Nate having a convo about the usual morning parking rituals.  This was their little home made video they were filming for Nate’s real dad in Florida so he could see what life was like for Nate going to high school in suburban Littleton. 

In Nate Dykeman’s statement it says that he sent Devon Adams a mean email because she was saying things to get Dylan in trouble. Do you have any idea what that was about or is it all speculation?

This is what Nate stated in his 11K account:

image

We don’t know for certain why Devon was trying to get Dylan in trouble. However, I have my suspicions that it might be for this reason…

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As Dylan’s friend, Devon may have found out about the two dipping into the computer lab room and helping themselves to school equipment and might have said something to put a stop to their thievery possibly getting Dylan into trouble.  

Dylan brags in Nate Dykeman’s yearbook…

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“I want the tv! hehehe  j/k i’ll get it another time. -draws a door key- (likely to the computer storage room ;)) hehehe”   

It’s more than likely that Nate knew what Dylan (and Eric) were up to having the key.  Seems to fit here in Dylan’s yearbook message to Nate that he was dropping hints and bragging over having carte blanche access to plifer computer equipment and was considering even taking the old TV sitting in storage too.  Perhaps, Nate didn’t like Devon interfering and inadvertently fingering Dylan in the process for items missing out of the computer storage closet.  Devon possibly even was the one that tipped Dylan’s dad off about him helping himself to an old laptop from Columbine. 

Of course it’s interesting too that Sue never mentions in her book anything about Dylan stealing that laptop and her husband making him taking it back.  Perhaps this was between Tom and Dylan and Sue wasn’t even aware of it.  Which I find kind of odd if that’s the case.  You’d think that Tom would notify his wife about their son’s school theft. Since it doesn’t sound like Columbine had any sort of reprimand toward Dylan’s theft, I would say that Tom might’ve privately scolded Dylan for doing this and told him to take it back.  Sue may not have known about it nor the school. Only Nate and Devon knew what happened.

This is my speculation here as there isn’t much else to go on in the evidence.

Sure would just looove to hear both Nate and Devon’s account of these shenanigans.  

    

What month and year was the video made with Dylan and Nate in Dylan’s car when they were driving to columbine?

In my estimation, the Morning Ritual vid would’ve been filmed in January ‘99. It’d be their first day back to school ending the winter holiday break, and Dyl’s first maiden voyage ride to CHS with his good friend Nate in tow, driving his newly purchased 1982 beater BMW 320i.  A holiday gift from his parents given the certificate purchase date.

Nate didn’t win over Kristi, Kristi liked Eric more than him

Nate liked Kristi, Kristi liked Eric, Eric liked Alyssa Sechler..that is, until Nate started dating Kristi, then Eric started flirting with Kristi and Nate and Eric had a falling out over it. Ultimately, Kristi and Nate attended prom together along with Dylan and Robyn. Eric didn’t attend prom because, well, he wasn’t able to find a girl to date him. So, I’d say that yes, Nate did win Kristi over.

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“They wanted revenge on the cops for arresting them in January ’98 because that ruined them on so many personal levels. Dylan was absolutely embarrassed, hardcore, he was ashamed of his arrest to a degree that just made him snap. His life was over with that arrest. He felt he could never get a job or be trusted by his family again. The arrest had a deep saddening effect on his life.”  

– dylankleboldcom (now defunct)

Regarding the Van break in:
Dylan was so ashamed he didn’t even tell Nate Dykeman, who found out about it third-hand.

“I said, ‘Is this the reason you can’t go out?’
and he got all red and told me he didn’t want to talk about it.”  

 – Nate Dykeman

I thought that was the footage Nate Dykeman sold to the tabloids of him and Dylan for 17,000. Why would Jeffco be the ones editing anything out? Or am I confusing two different things.

Correct. If you watch the documentary “Columbine: Understanding Why” which is available as a dvd on Netflix (it used to be available on instant video but not at the moment and it was deleted off youtube due to A & E’s copyright infringement), they show a segment of the Morning Ritual and you can see/hear a few seconds of Nate and Dylan making idle small talk while driving towards Dylan’s assigned parking space in the senior lot. However, In the video edited for public consumption  on the internet, the Pulp Fiction soundtrack is cranked up during that segment and any dialog between Nate and Dylan is non existent.  Nate and Dylan filmed this for Nate’s dad back in Florida so he could see what it was like for them getting up and going to high school every morning. 

You needn’t watch the video carefully to realize that it is hacked to pieces and spliced together sloppily. It clearly isn’t the original footage of Nate’s with all the conversations between them while doing a ‘day in a life’ driving to school.   I was going to post this segment where you can hear the two talking a wee bit in the parking lot but by that time, youtube had removed all instances of it.  I’m sure it’s probably available somewhere like a Torrent if you don’t have Netflix.

Oh sorry to ask another question but what could they have been editing out of the morning ritual video? it’s obvious they edited out parts of them speaking. what could they have possibly said jeffco didn’t want us to hear. jeffco just pisses me off

Probably just them discussing daily goings on at the school and referencing names of people – friends, teachers they like or hate and foes that irritated them. Also, I think Jeffco preferred we not be vicariously listening in on two friends talking about mundane things because it might make Dylan seem less of a monster and rather more accessible and appealing as timidly ordinary and goofy in idol conversation.  As it is, Dylan already captivates and does a number on us with his disarming close-camera eye contact and inimitable hand wave. Hearing them talk and maybe laughing at what they might be saying as two boys hanging out?  Nuh uh. Jeffco would rather bar us from eavesdropping in on their potentially relatable teenage discussions while driving to school. Killers must remain unknowable so as not to garner sympathy or understanding.

you know in nate’s yearbook how Dylan wrote the “kill puffy” shit like that. What does that mean?

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CHICO’s GROVE
sup man… Bust da surfboards, pacon the beach bitchez…

Nate was heading to Florida after graduation.. Yeah, dude, like, totally.
Surfs up.

Sir I want the TV! hehehe 
j/k i’ll get it another time
(draws a key) hehehe

Me thinks Dyl was planning to steal a TV from out of the CHS computer room because.. he has the keys!  Might have joked around with Nate over the idea of nabbing the TV for his bedroom.

Strait Playin


Kill Jiggy

Will Smith’s ‘98 song “Get Jiggy wit it” and catchphrase

Kill Puffy  

Sean “Puffy” Combs rapper

Kill Hanson

90s boy band that look like blonde chicks or fags (according to D & E)

Richard Marx!!!

Nineties pop artist that sang reeeally cheesy gay ballads like..

Right Here Waiting for You

AAAAA!!      

..and who can blame him, mright?

LATERZ
<<- VoDkA->>
Dylan


(Left side)

I am the GOD of the MP3′s !!
You’ll never beat me  

Dylan has downloaded the most MP3′s probably off an FTP search engine or file sharing download site such as RIO or AudioGalaxy – pre Napster which came out in June ‘99 and was controversial because people were downloading music for free illegally and not giving a shit.

Albertsons’s was funny hehehe

Dylan worked at Albertson’s grocery store as a customer service clerk for a short time – can you imagine? 😉 

DIE Connie !!!
I will put refried beans in the toilet
and rotten eggs everywhere!!
dam zippo
haha

Dyl pranks a much disliked manager while working there and probably as his
F you exit in style.. Yeah, I’d say he got fed up and quit..

Anyhow, that’s Dyl’s very upbeat, jovial last yearbook signing message to Nate. 🙂 

crimeandcolumbine:

NATHAN DYKEMAN Well, I’d called first just, you know—I was concerned, I was calling all my friends, trying to make sure that they got out and they were OK. And Dylan’s parents I called last, because I—I called them with the hope that he was there and be OK and everything, and it basically eased up to me telling them that I think that he was involved in it, and I think he could possibly be in the school.

CHARLES GIBSON You were talking to Mr. Klebold?

NATHAN DYKEMAN Yes, I was the one that broke the news to Mr. Klebold.

CHARLES GIBSON Who you know very well, having spent so much time at their house?

NATHAN DYKEMAN Yes, yes.

CHARLES GIBSON And what did he say when you said Dylan might be one of the shooters?

NATHAN DYKEMAN He was just in shock. He was speechless. And I also thought he was going to, like, drop the phone. He just could not believe that this could possibly be happening, and his son was involved in this. And he said just, “Please keep me informed on whatever you hear.” And he got off the phone with me to contact the authorities.


https://everlasting-contrast.tumblr.com/post/95461880615/audio_player_iframe/everlasting-contrast/tumblr_napfl0VJmg1sfkxk2?audio_file=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tumblr.com%2Faudio_file%2Feverlasting-contrast%2F95461880615%2Ftumblr_napfl0VJmg1sfkxk2

ericharrisblog:

Nate and Dylan arriving at Columbine in the Dykeman Morning Ride video

“..I know I don’t..”

Yeah, we know why that is..

Ashamed

Dylan and Eric were arrested, charged with theft, criminal mischief and criminal trespassing and released them to their none-too-happy parents.

Dylan was so ashamed he didn’t even tell Nate Dykeman, who found out about it third-hand.

“I said, `Is this the reason you can’t go out?’ and he got all red and told me he didn’t want to talk about it,” Nate said.

Fatal Friendship – The Rocky Mountain News – August 22, 1999

———-

Sue Caruthers had Dylan Klebold working for her on several play productions. She described him as being very efficient. She said that upon one occasion she remembers that he didn’t show up for the production he was supposed to be at for rehearsals and that she asked a friend of his, Zach Heckler, where he was. Zach Heckler told her that Dylan Klebold had been in an anger management class. She asked Dylan Klebold about this when he came to the class and he didn’t wish to provide any details other than he’d done something wrong and he had to go to this class. She describes him as being very respectful and courteous, and never showed any disrespect for her or any other faculty while she was around.

Sue Caruthers – 002692