Michael Hernandez had aspirations to become a serial killer and felt zero remorse when he took the life of fellow student Jaime Gough.
The Crime
On February 3rd 2004 Michael Hernandez killed his ‘friend’ Jaime Gough at the age of just 14. Micheal was a bright student and achieved good grades in school however he harbored some dark secrets. On that morning Michael and Jaime arrived early at school at Michael’s request so he could carry out his plans. These plans are outlined in a diary entry pictured below. In this diary there was also a kill list which included his own sister! One entry finished with the line ‘I will become a serial killer’.
Once the two were inside the school Michael then persuaded Jaime to come to the bathroom with him. In the bathroom Michael then said he had something to show Jaime in the bathroom stalls. As soon as Jaime was inside the stall Michael pulled out his knife and told Jaime to turn around so he could surprise him. Once Jaime had turned around he grabbed his head and began stabbing his throat. Jaime turned around and begged for his life however Michael ignored these pleas and proceeded to stab Jaime in the throat over 40 times. To ensure the job was done he then sliced his throat right across severing the jugular and windpipe. In a later interview he describes the moment he actually committed the crime stating ‘I took the knife out and I proceeded to slit his throat’. The way in which he relived the crime was with a sense of pride at what he had achieved and without a hint of remorse.
Michael then left his friend dead on the floor of the bathroom and proceeded to begin washing the blood off his hands and knife. To ensure he was dead Michael poked Jaime in the face with his knife. It is incredible how someone can show so little compassion and empathy for another human life. Again remember this is a 14 year old boy! He then left the bathroom leaving his ‘friend’ on the floor dead. It wasn’t long before Jaime was discovered by other students and the whole school was then placed on lockdown.
During the lockdown Michael was singled out for acting suspicious as he asked to go to the bathroom multiple times and it also appeared he had blood on his shirt. The excuse he gave for this was a nosebleed caused by the door. Eventually, after police had processed the scene, Michael was brought in for questioning over the murder. Under questioning more was revealed about the sickening nature of the 14 year old boy.
The Interview
‘My intentions were to kill Andre’. This was Michael talking about the day prior when he attempted to lure not only Jaime but also Andre Martin into a bathroom stall so he could kill them both. When he asked Andre to accompany him into the stall he declined suspecting something was off. This instinct saved Andre's life that day. This confession clearly demonstrates Michael was aiming to kill more people and that this was not just a one off attack. Further to this Michael also spoke about how he wished to ‘strangle him’. Clearly Michael was excited by the idea of killing and wanted to experiment with different methods. These comments alone mean we are looking at a highly dangerous individual should he not have been arrested.
The detective also goes on to question the motives behind the killing. The closest to a reason we are given is ‘He was the easiest out of anybody’. Here Michael has given his only reason as simply the opportunity to kill. It seems he was obsessed with serial killers and all things gore, as mentioned by a number of his classmates. 14 year old Michael was aspiring to be just like the killers he kept listed in his diaries and wanted to get his first kill done. He clearly felt no differently whether it was his friend or anyone and only cared whether he had opportunity.
Further to the point of no remorse Michael talks below in a calm and relaxed monotone about how his friend actually begged for his life whilst he was stabbing him.
Important points to note from the interview are the way a 14 year old can sit in such a confident way (arms forward,shoulders up and leaning forward) knowing he has just brutally stabbed his ‘friend’. The way he talks the whole time remains the same and there is absolutely no emotion behind any of it even when he recounts the moment he brutally attacked Jaime.
To conclude the interview the detective asks if he is sorry for his actions to which you can guess his answer but below is the exchange.
The Sentencing
At trial the defense tried to claim not guilty by reason of insanity however this was immediately thrown out given the mounting evidence of premeditation. The first was the purchase of latex gloves which he asked his mother to go out and buy for him. Second was the diary in which he had written out his plans for committing murder. Thirdly was the attempted murder just a day before indicating that he was of sound mind to plan and carry out the murder. Lastly was the interrogation itself where he calmly described the killing in every detail even down to which direction he slit Jaime’s throat.
In 2008 Michael was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Jaime and a further 10 years for the attempted murder of Andre Martin. Nothing was heard from Michael until he bid for an early release in 2016 given he was a minor at the time of the sentence. This appeal was denied and a life sentence upheld as calls to his girlfriend were played to the court. In these calls he talked about how he still wanted to become a serial killer and even wanted to have a signature where he would take the victims eye and carve a cross into their forehead. These calls clearly showed that Michael would have been a high danger to society and thankfully the sentence was upheld.
In 2021 we heard from Michael the last time when he died in prison at the age of 31. His official cause of death was “cardiac dysrhythmia attributed to morbid obesity.” I will finish on a quote from Jorge Gough, Jaime’s father. “We were not expecting that at all. We’ve been hurt. We don’t want to see anyone die or hurt like that. Even though we went through what we went through, we were not happy to hear that Michael Hernandez was dead in jail.”
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