Murder of Yngve Raustein

Who is Murder of Yngve Raustein?

Yngve Koehler Raustein was a Norwegian undergraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a resident of Baker House. On the evening of 18 September 1992 he was walking down Memorial Drive by Hayden Library when he and his companion were attacked by three students of Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. Shon McHugh, aged 15, Joseph D. Donovan, aged 17, and Alfredo Velez, aged 18 robbed Raustein and his companion of $33, and McHugh stabbed Raustein, who was fatally injured. A memorial service for Raustein was held on 9 October 1992.

Raustein's murder was the first of an MIT student for over a decade and sparked a Town and gown debate centering on the tension between the wealthy universities in Cambridge, MIT and Harvard University, and the poorer permanent Cambridge population. A vigil held the week after his death drew representatives from both communities. A permanent memorial award, the Yngve Raustein Award for Scholarship, Teamwork and Community, was established at MIT in 1993. Raustein has been memorialized in the Garden of Peace memorial in Boston, Massachusetts.

McHugh was tried as a juvenile, and was released from prison after less than 11 years. Velez testified against Donovan and was sentenced to less than 10 years in prison. Donovan was charged with felony murder and was sentenced to life without parole.