I don't know whether bullying was a factor in this case, but I do know that no one who hasn't been seriously bullied, stalked, or harassed over a long period has the slightest clue of what this does to the victim. It is utterly ruinous. I could easily imagine bullying leading to justifiable homicide.
Also, bullying has nothing to do with teachers punishing people who "stand out," nor is it likely to happen in classrooms. It is more likely to happen in hallways, stairwells, bathrooms, locker rooms, etc. As I said before, many of the perpetrators are junior sociopaths who are headed for a life of violent crime. They are the ones who should be rooted out of schools--not the Asperger's types, assuming the latter are able to behave in class.
That is completely contrary to the advice from mental health experts. Children with Asperger's need to be surrounded by the educational process as well as the socail interaction at school. They need to participate in team sports, choir practice, Sunday School, visits to museums, summer camps (day camps), swimming lessons, music lessons and any other social acitivity the parents and child can handle. Certainly not all of these acitivities at once; but, stretch the child's ability as much as possible. If they are allowed to stay home and "hide from the world" they will quickly become house bound and very hard, if not impossible to change by junior high. At least that is the advice we were given. It certainly isn't easy; but, so far it works.