On January 20, 2014, 14-year-old Stefan Rushing was found dead at his home in Lawton, Oklahoma alongside his father, Uwe Rushing. Stefan was an eighth-grader involved in several school activities. An initial account from his older brother, 18-year-old Thorsten Rushing, described a violent home invasion by intruders, but investigators found inconsistencies between Thorsten’s story and the physical evidence at the scene.

Further investigation determined the killings were not the work of strangers. Authorities say Thorsten organized the attack and recruited several classmates to carry out the murders. Prosecutors pursued charges including first-degree murder and conspiracy, and Thorsten was convicted for the murders of his father and brother and given life without parole; his teenage co-conspirators entered guilty pleas and received prison terms for their roles.

What details about Stefan’s life or the case might help explain how such a plan was conceived and carried out?