The Body Shifters -- Tess Damm

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This is not the face anyone expects to see when picturing the mastermind of a ferocious stabbing murder.  The target? Her own mother.  This murder mastermind, Tess Damm of Colorado, was 15 years old when she instigated 3 older boys to slaughter her mother and/or help dispose of the corpse.  Fifteen. Barely out of middle school.

Linda Damm, the mother, was never a contender for Mother of the Year. With a reputation as an ill-tempered alcoholic, Linda was not the warm and cuddly mom in the kitchen baking after-school snacks.   But Tess had a roof over her head and continuous infusions of allowance money to indulge her whims. Linda even allowed her daughter's boyfriend to move in, hoping to keep the party girl home. Plenty of kids have home lives far worse.

Tess had a Romeo and Juliet style fantasy passion going with 17 year old Bryan Grove, a boy who was tempted by violence and obsessed with his own origin as an orphan adopted from India. Once these two strong-willed adolescents met, no one else in the world was of much interest or value. They set their sights on creating their own tiny world, population 2.

Which meant that Linda, who had an irritating way of wanting Tess to go to school and Bryan to pursue getting a job, had to go.

You can see the details of how the pair removed Linda from their lives, but not from the house, by watching for the Wicked Attraction episode called "The Body Shifters."  Here is a bit of video from the show. I'm not in this clip, but I am in the hour long episode first aired July 28.



Within a relatively short amount of time after the murder, Bryan, who had put on great displays of bravado and machismo for his little blond vixen, began crumbling under the weight of regret. His curiosity and taste for violence not only sated but turned to repulsion, he never successfully finished his original plans for disposing of Linda's body.

But Tess's regrets only surfaced upon getting caught and having to trade in her mother's house for the Big House.

Tess Damm in the Colorado Dept. of Corrections

After serving roughly 2 years of her plea deal sentence (remember, that means she agreed to do the time), Tess was nabbed in an escape plot in which she was allegedly preparing to have a prison guard strangled.  It seems while Bryan's appetite for murder had been exhausted, Tess's was merely whetted.

The prison photo of Tess, above, in the orange jumpsuit may not be too current. At the time of the murder, Tess was petite and as gorgeous as the actress who portrayed her on the TV episode. But the Colorado Dept. of Corrections now lists her with a weight of 213 pounds on her 5'5" frame.

Both of these kids were sentenced as juveniles, therefore much of their prison records are not available to the public. All I can say is, Bryan showed some remorse, tears even (outside of Tess's presence), well before he was caught. Tess not only never did but went on to allegedly get involved in another murder plot. 

Which isn't to say Bryan is any soft-hearted Boy Scout. The protracted stabbing he inflicted on Linda, a woman who was providing him room and board, displays a carnal viciousness most humans would not be capable of. 

Bryan Grove as a guest of the State of Colorado, instead of Linda Damm

At

At 6'1", Bryan is still a great deal taller than his erstwhile teen love, but at 210 pounds, according to the prison, he no longer outweighs her.

Bryan will stay behind bars for most of his adult life, not being eligible for parole until 2035 and not due for outright release until 2045.

Tess, now 21, will be pushing 30 when she comes up for parole. Tess did not wield the knife, but as the TV episode demonstrates, she was present for some very ghoulish proceedings.  Her sentence will come to an end in 2029.

The two other boys involved received much, much lighter sentences and have already served their time.

Bryan had once threatened his own mother, but the incident came to nothing. Tess had spent her teen years bickering with and provoking her mother and winning the sympathies of others over Linda's imperfections. Producers for Wicked Attraction asked me what was the "wicked attraction" between these two young killers?  In my opinion, the facts show that Bryan had a desire to indulge what he believed to be the dark nature he had inherited from his biological and allegedly criminal father. Tess gave him the perfect excuse to unleash that desire.  After the stabbing frenzy was over, he found he didn't like it as much as he thought he would.

But Tess was more sinister. Many other young girls have difficult mothers and pursue academics, dance, arts, or any of  a million other activities or resources to escape. What Tess wanted was not a better life but to win. In the puppy-dog devotion of her hulking and brooding boyfriend, she found the perfect weapon for the ultimate battle with her mother.

That was the Wicked Attraction.

To see The Body Shifters next time it airs, follow Wicked Attraction on Facebook or visit the Wicked Attraction home page. Or! Try out the new IDAddict! 

To see the Wicked Attraction crew who shot this episode, click on this post. 

Airs back-to-back tonight (Sat Sep 1, 2012) with this episode.

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Pssst! Going to jail, buying documents, and everything else it takes to get this kind of info for the blog takes time and money! Every time you make a purchase here, it helps me be able to do more for you!