The lawyer for an Indiana man who pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing and shooting a fellow Purdue University student is expected to try to convince a judge that his client is mentally ill.
The sentencing hearing for 24-year-old Cody Cousins of Warsaw is set for Friday afternoon in Lafayette.
Cousins pleaded guilty to murder last month for the Jan. 21 attack during which 21-year-old Andrew Boldt of West Bend, Wisconsin, was killed inside a classroom filled with students on the West Lafayette campus. His attorney said he'll ask the judge to rule Cousins guilty but mentally ill.
Under state law, the Indiana Department of Correction would then assign Cousins to mental health treatment. If he is pronounced cured, he then would serve the remainder of his sentence in regular confinement.
An attorney representing the university last month offered to post on its website a surveillance video that college newspaper editors said showed a staff photographer being roughed up by police when he entered the building after Boldt was attacked. The Purdue Exponent and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana contended the university erroneously labeled the video recording as evidence of the crime scene and should have released it. Police said the video showed the photographer trying to flee from officers.
Boldt was described by former teachers as someone who loved robotics and computers and was always willing to help others with technology issues. He also was an Eagle Scout.
