Purdue shooting suspect could face up to 65 years

• Cody. M. Cousins%2C 23%2C has been charged with murder.
• The victim%2C Andrew Boldt%2C 21%2C was shot and stabbed.
• The type of handgun and number of shots fired have not been disclosed.

Purdue University student Cody Cousins appeared Thursday afternoon before Tippecanoe County Magistrate Sean Persin on one charge of murder and learned that he might face between 45 and 65 years in prison if convicted of shooting and stabbing a fellow engineering student.

Cousins, 23, tilted his head slightly down toward the defense table and appeared to close his eyes as the specific allegation that he killed Andrew Boldt, 21, of West Bend, Wis., was read. The rest of the hearing, Cousins sat upright and looked directly at Persin as he answered yes or no to the magistrate's questions.

During the initial hearing, Cousins was told of his rights and possible consequences if convicted. If there are no mitigating or aggravating factors, he would face a 55-year term.

The magistrate said the case might be eligible for Indiana's capital punishment — death, or life in prison — but that enhanced charge has not been filed.

Persin entered a not guilty plea and denied bond for Cousins.

The crime

According to court documents filed earlier in the day, West Lafayette and Purdue police responded shortly after noon Tuesday to a report of shots fired inside the Purdue Electrical Engineering Building.

A West Lafayette police officer saw Cousins sitting on the ground outside the building with his hands behind his head. The officer observed blood on Cousins' hands and clothes. He surrendered to police without incident.

Court documents allege that officers who entered the building saw bloody footprints in the area of Room 067. Inside the classroom, police found Boldt's body. He had been shot and stabbed, police said. Officers recovered a handgun, a knife and several spent shell casings near the body.

Witnesses in the room identified Cousins as the assailant, and surveillance footage showed Cousins in the building, according to the probable cause affidavit filed with the charge. The document does not include witness statements or allude to possible motives.

Recollections

In the wake of the shooting, those who had contact with Cousins, an engineering student who lived off campus, provided conflicting recollections of him. While some described Cousins as easygoing, others describe him as sometimes disagreeable, even rude.

Jason Clark, a Purdue adjunct assistant professor, taught Cousins in his ECE 202 class, Linear Circuit Analysis, in fall 2012.

"I recall that he was an intensely serious student by his demeanor," Clark said. "He did not mingle much with others and he rarely asked questions."

Clark said Cousins did not visit him during office hours but frequently attended optional exam review sessions.

"In my limited interaction with Cody, I did not notice anything about him that made me think that he might later commit such a violent act," Clark said. "Otherwise, I would have reported my concern."

Ashley Eidsmore, a graduate teaching assistant in the engineering school, told Associated Press that some of her lab mates who worked closely with Cousins complained that he was a "just all-around rude individual."

Purdue professor Thomas Talavage, who worked with Cousins, told the AP that Cousins "didn't like to be told he was wrong."

"He tended to be more aggressive in his debating and tended to be more convinced he was right." Talavage said, later adding that such traits are not at all unusual among electrical engineering students, who are under tremendous pressure to succeed.

Cousins and Boldt were undergraduate teaching assistants in separate courses, both taught by the same professor.

'Struggling as well'

During Thursday's hearing, Cousins' mother, Wendy Melancon, his sister and his father, Ernest Cousins, sat a few feet away, separated from Cousins by a brick and glass wall and a locked steel door. Cousins' family entered the small room a few minutes before the media was allowed into the room, and Cousins glanced over at them briefly before the hearing started, but he did not attempt to communicate.

His mother and sister sat with arms laced together, leaning slightly in on each other, holding hands for support. None of the family spoke to media immediately before or after the hearing. Cousins' attorney, Robert Gever of Fort Wayne, made a brief statement afterward.

"I just met with his family," Gever said. "They are obviously struggling as well. Our hearts and their hearts are full of compassion and concern for the Purdue family and the family of Mr. Boldt.

"We will proceed in providing this young man, Mr. Cousins, with the best defense we can," he said.

At the end of the hearing, Persin set a trial date of April 22.