Sinedu Tadesse
Encyclopedia
Sinedu Tadesse was a junior in college at Harvard University
when she murder
ed her roommate, Trang Phuong Ho, and then killed herself
on May 28, 1995. The ensuing scandal played out in the courts and Boston newspapers, and may have resulted in a variety of changes to the administration of living conditions at Harvard. Tadesse is buried at the Ethiopian Orthodox Cemetery, Addis Ababa
, Ethiopia
.
. However, this period in Ethiopia
's history was turbulent. Her father had been jailed for two years when Tadesse was aged about seven. She was ostracized by other students as well as her own family members during her childhood years in Ethiopia. Tadesse then devoted herself to her studies, gaining admission to the prestigious International Community School
, where she graduated as valedictorian
and earned admission to Harvard.
Unfortunately, she was unable to keep up academically when she arrived at Harvard, and was told that her below-average grades would keep her from attending top-ranked medical schools in the U.S. She made no friends, remaining distant even from relatives she had in the area. Tadesse sent a form letter to dozens of strangers that she picked from the phone book, describing her unhappiness and pleading with them to be her friend. One woman responded to the letter but became alarmed by the bizarre writings and recordings Sinedu sent her in return; she had no further contact with Sinedu. Another woman found the letter obnoxious and sent it to a friend who worked at Harvard to review.
After her freshman year, her roommate told her she was going to room with someone else. For her second and third years, Tadesse roomed with Trang Ho, a Vietnam
ese student who was well liked and doing well at Harvard, and Tadesse was obsessively fond of her. Tadesse was very needy in her demands for attention and became angry when Trang began to distance herself in their junior year. Tadesse apparently reacted with despair when Ho announced her decision to room with another group of girls their senior year, and the two women stopped speaking with each other after that.
, saying "Keep this picture. There will soon be a very juicy story involving this woman." She took one final exam, but got medical exemptions for two others, and had a brunch date with a fellow Ethiopian student named Neb; he later realized she was saying goodbye to him before she killed herself.
On May 28, 1995, Sinedu Tadesse stabbed her roommate 45 times with a hunting knife
, killing her. Tadesse also attacked one of Ho's visiting friends, a 26-year-old named Thao Nguyen, severely injuring her as well. Tadesse then hanged herself in the bathroom. The entire event took place on the third floor, making it difficult for police to enter.
In the days after the murder, it was speculated on campus and in the press that Tadesse had resorted to violence because Ho had asked not to room with her again in the fall. Members of Tadesse's family countered that she was the one who opted out of rooming with Ho, as she was often alone in the dormitory because Ho often stayed with her family in nearby Medford, Massachusetts
.
Trang Ho's family thought Harvard could have prevented her death. In 1998, they filed suit against the school, alleging "wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering and emotional distress," and charging the university, as well as various people in charge at Dunster House
, with negligence. They felt that the university had plenty of evidence that Tadesse was losing her mind and becoming fixated on violent vengeance, and that the university could have prevented the deaths.
After the murder, a debate erupted at Harvard over whether the school should establish a scholarship
in the names of both girls or only in Ho's. They decided on the latter, and students can now apply for the Trang Ho Public Service Fellowship to pay for charitable work during the summer after junior year.
. Thernstrom was sympathetic towards Tadesse's outcast status and mental problems (though she also remembers rebuffing Sinedu's attempt to sign up for one of her creative writing classes, and being frankly relieved when Sinedu left her classroom and didn't return), and sharply critical of how Harvard handled both what happened and the aftermath. The book also details several instances of students with mental-health issues having their situations exacerbated by indifferent and unsympathetic Harvard officials, as well as a campus housing structure with incompetent advisors.
Thernstom travelled to Tadesse's home in Ethiopia
and gained access to her diaries, which revealed her deteriorating mental health, her obsessive fantasizing about an ideal friend, and her frustrated and frustrating attempts to find competent psychiatric care.
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
when she murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed her roommate, Trang Phuong Ho, and then killed herself
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
on May 28, 1995. The ensuing scandal played out in the courts and Boston newspapers, and may have resulted in a variety of changes to the administration of living conditions at Harvard. Tadesse is buried at the Ethiopian Orthodox Cemetery, Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
.
Background
Tadesse had grown up in a relatively well-off family in EthiopiaEthiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. However, this period in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
's history was turbulent. Her father had been jailed for two years when Tadesse was aged about seven. She was ostracized by other students as well as her own family members during her childhood years in Ethiopia. Tadesse then devoted herself to her studies, gaining admission to the prestigious International Community School
International Community School (Ethiopia)
The International Community School of Addis Ababa , founded in 1964, is an independent, co-educational day school that teaches students of all nationalities in prekindergarten through 12th grade and is located in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. The school was founded as the American...
, where she graduated as valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
and earned admission to Harvard.
Unfortunately, she was unable to keep up academically when she arrived at Harvard, and was told that her below-average grades would keep her from attending top-ranked medical schools in the U.S. She made no friends, remaining distant even from relatives she had in the area. Tadesse sent a form letter to dozens of strangers that she picked from the phone book, describing her unhappiness and pleading with them to be her friend. One woman responded to the letter but became alarmed by the bizarre writings and recordings Sinedu sent her in return; she had no further contact with Sinedu. Another woman found the letter obnoxious and sent it to a friend who worked at Harvard to review.
After her freshman year, her roommate told her she was going to room with someone else. For her second and third years, Tadesse roomed with Trang Ho, a Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese student who was well liked and doing well at Harvard, and Tadesse was obsessively fond of her. Tadesse was very needy in her demands for attention and became angry when Trang began to distance herself in their junior year. Tadesse apparently reacted with despair when Ho announced her decision to room with another group of girls their senior year, and the two women stopped speaking with each other after that.
The main events
Tadesse purchased two knives and a length of rope in advance, and the week before the murder, Tadesse sent a photograph of herself with an anonymous note to The Harvard CrimsonThe Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson, the daily student newspaper of Harvard University, was founded in 1873. It is the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates...
, saying "Keep this picture. There will soon be a very juicy story involving this woman." She took one final exam, but got medical exemptions for two others, and had a brunch date with a fellow Ethiopian student named Neb; he later realized she was saying goodbye to him before she killed herself.
On May 28, 1995, Sinedu Tadesse stabbed her roommate 45 times with a hunting knife
Hunting knife
A hunting knife is a knife used during hunting for preparing the game to be used as food: skinning the animal and cutting up the meat. It is different from the Hunting dagger which was traditionally used to kill wild game....
, killing her. Tadesse also attacked one of Ho's visiting friends, a 26-year-old named Thao Nguyen, severely injuring her as well. Tadesse then hanged herself in the bathroom. The entire event took place on the third floor, making it difficult for police to enter.
Afterwards
Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...
.
Trang Ho's family thought Harvard could have prevented her death. In 1998, they filed suit against the school, alleging "wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering and emotional distress," and charging the university, as well as various people in charge at Dunster House
Dunster House
Dunster House, built in 1930, is one of the first two Harvard University dormitories constructed under President Abbott Lawrence Lowell's House Plan, and one of the seven Houses given to Harvard by Edward Harkness. In the early days, room rents varied based on the floor and the size of the room...
, with negligence. They felt that the university had plenty of evidence that Tadesse was losing her mind and becoming fixated on violent vengeance, and that the university could have prevented the deaths.
After the murder, a debate erupted at Harvard over whether the school should establish a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
in the names of both girls or only in Ho's. They decided on the latter, and students can now apply for the Trang Ho Public Service Fellowship to pay for charitable work during the summer after junior year.
Halfway Heaven
Most analysis of the murder follows the 1997 publication of Halfway Heaven: Diary of a Harvard Murder, a book by 1987 Harvard graduate Melanie ThernstromMelanie Thernstrom
Melanie Thernstrom is an author and contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine who frequently writes about murders and crime....
. Thernstrom was sympathetic towards Tadesse's outcast status and mental problems (though she also remembers rebuffing Sinedu's attempt to sign up for one of her creative writing classes, and being frankly relieved when Sinedu left her classroom and didn't return), and sharply critical of how Harvard handled both what happened and the aftermath. The book also details several instances of students with mental-health issues having their situations exacerbated by indifferent and unsympathetic Harvard officials, as well as a campus housing structure with incompetent advisors.
Thernstom travelled to Tadesse's home in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and gained access to her diaries, which revealed her deteriorating mental health, her obsessive fantasizing about an ideal friend, and her frustrated and frustrating attempts to find competent psychiatric care.