Friends of rape-trial defendant explain ‘slaying,’ ‘Senior Salute’

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston.com

BY ALLISON MANNING @ALLYMANNING

Three young men took the stand in their friend’s rape trial today, describing in sometimes graphic language the traditions of “scoring” and the “Senior Salute” at their New Hampshire prep school.

Prosecutors are trying to prove that Owen Labrie, a now-19-year-old graduate of the prestigious St. Paul’s School, targeted a younger classmate months before she agreed to meet up with him as part of the longstanding Senior Salute tradition. The two went to a secluded room on campus on May 30, 2014, where she says she was raped. He says it was consensual.

Interspersed with questions about Labrie were inquires about the Senior Salute tradition. Prosecutors asked: What exactly was it?

“It was a term that was used to explain … the feeling of a last-chance-dance kind of atmosphere in the last spring term of every year,” said Malcolm Salovaara, a 2013 graduate who now goes to Dartmouth College.

Though he had graduated a year before, Salovaara was in a Facebook group with Labrie and another recent grad called “Slayers Anonymous.” He said it was just a way to keep in touch, and wasn’t any kind of competition.

Prosecutor Catherine J. Ruffle asked what “slaying” was. Salovaara said it was a synonym for scoring or hooking up.

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