MO - Marc Cooper, 66, retired MSU Professor, fatally stabbed, Springfield, 17 Aug 2016 *Arrest* *insanity*

[wfgodot]

Yikes.

ky3.com:

MSU instructor is charged for murder of emeritus professor

Greene County prosecutors late Thursday afternoon charged a man from Springfield for a deadly stabbing at a home on East University Street on Wednesday evening. Edward M. Gutting, 43, is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action, and first-degree burglary.

Marc F. Cooper, 66, of Springfield died in the attack. His wife, Nancy Cooper, 67, was stabbed while trying to defend her husband but police say her injuries are non-life threatening.
---
The probable cause statement against Gutting says police found Gutting walking in the street in front of the Coopers’ home. He had blood on his clothes and body. Police immediately detained Gutting and say he was carrying no weapon.
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Nancy Cooper told officers that a man with a large knife entered their home without permission through the back door about 7:30. She said the intruder chased Marc Cooper from back door through the kitchen and into the living room, stabbing him the entire time, until her husband was knocked to the ground.
---

more at the link

Springfield News-Leader:

Prosecutors say knife-wielding MSU instructor killed colleague in unprovoked attack

 

[wfgodot]

Hm. I'm guessing conflict involving permanent hiring to tenured position. Anyone?

 

[i.b.nora]

I have been snooping around just a little regarding this case.

Found this about Edward Gutting:

Name: Edward M Gutting
Detention Date: August 18th, 2016
Location:
Springfield, MO Browse all Greene County
Gender: Male
Age: 43
Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 225 Lbs
Race: White
Charges: MURDER 2ND DEGREE
Previous Arrests:​

He's big!

Found a listing for (I believe) a tenured position in History Department to begin this upcoming semester. Have been trying to find out who was on the tenure committee. Gutting had been an instructor of Modern and Classical Languages which is housed within the History Department.

Gutting has been removed from the faculty listings.

Gutting's wife also teaches at the University.

Seems odd to me that Cooper's wife wasn't at least familiar with Edward Gutting's name.
Marc Cooper taught at the institution from 1980 - 2014.

And, I would be surprised if it didn't have something to do with tenure.

 

[i.b.nora]

From Ozarks Public Radio

http://ksmu.org/post/stabbing-attack-kills-msu-professor-another-instructor-custody#stream/0

“Dr. Cooper was an active scholar, publishing several articles on the cuneiform tablets of ancient Iraq, and his teaching specialty area was in the history of the Ancient Near East,” said Dr. Victor Matthews, dean of the College of Humanities and Public Affairs, in a statement.

It went on to say Cooper served as department head in history from 1997-2003. Over the course of his career, he was a visiting professor at Hebrew University in 1987 and a Fellow for Imagining America in 2010-11. In retirement, he continued to serve the university as the managing editor of the eJournal in Public Affairs. He was active in developing blended and online courses and in promoting engaged scholarship.”​

 

[i.b.nora]

This newer article has some background information:

MSU officials say instructor charged with killing professor has no history of conflict
Springfield News-Leader
Alissa Zhu
11:48 a.m. CDT August 19, 2016

http://www.news-leader.com/story/ne...g-professor-has-no-history-conflict/88994340/

snippets

“Missouri State University officials said they are not aware of any conflicts that instructor Edward M. Gutting, 43, has had with any professors, students or staff.”

*

“Matthews said Gutting had no disciplinary action taken against him in the past.

MSU spokeswoman Suzanne Shaw said the university is not aware Gutting has any history of mental illness.”

+

“Matthews said Gutting had no disciplinary action taken against him in the past.

MSU spokeswoman Suzanne Shaw said the university is not aware Gutting has any history of mental illness.”

*

“Shaw said Gutting is an instructor of modern and classical languages, who used to teach classes in the history department. Gutting's wife, Angela Hornsby-Gutting, is a history professor on the tenure track at MSU. At one point, all three individuals were in the same department.

Shaw said Hornsby-Gutting will be teaching classes in the fall semester, which begins Aug. 22.

Matthews called Gutting a “trailing spouse,” explaining that he was a tag-along hire when the university made an offer to his wife.

“When I hired Angela Hornsby-Gutting in 2011, one of the conditions of that, in addition to her being hired as a tenured associate professor, was that she asked me to make an accommodation for her husband Ed Gutting, who had a doctorate in classics,” Matthews said.

Matthews said Gutting taught survey courses in the history department until he was transferred over to modern and classical languages because it was Gutting’s specialty area.”​

More...

 

[wfgodot]

Not sure if people are aware of the sense of loathing than can be present among academic types on a college faculty -- competitive jealousy, more.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

If I heard correctly, in wf's video link (first post) they state that the wife is NOT cooperating with police?

 

[GeeEm]

August 19, 2016
7:32 AM EDT

MO State professor charged with stabbing murder of another professor in his home




A professor at Missouri State University has been arrested and charged in the deadly stabbing of another professor.

Edward M. Gutting, 43, was charged Thursday with second-degree murder, assault, burglary and armed criminal action in connection with the killing of retired MSU professor Marc Cooper, 66.

Cooper’s wife was also stabbed but is expected to survive.

Gutting, meanwhile, is being held in the Greene County Jail on $1 million bond.

According to the probable cause document, Marc and Nancy Cooper were sitting inside their home on Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. when Gutting came in through the back door wielding a large knife. Gutting allegedly chased Marc Cooper through the kitchen into the living room, knocked him down and stabbed him to death, according to the statement. Nancy Cooper was cut as she tried to fight with Gutting, who reportedly stands at 6’5″.


http://fox4kc.com/2016/08/19/mo-sta...bing-murder-of-another-professor-in-his-home/

 

[i.b.nora]

If I heard correctly, in wf's video link (first post) they state that the wife is NOT cooperating with police?

Yes, it does say that in the video news report, but that report was from two days ago. I would think that if she wants to keep her teaching gig at MSU she would be wise to get an attorney first, and then consider to what extent she wants to cooperate with the police.

I also noticed in the video that Gutting had recently (I think) gotten a DWI?

That tenure stuff can be really brutal.

 

[charminglane]

Gutting.
Yuck.

 

[helmut3585]

Don't think it was about tenure. He was a tag-along spouse, meaning the university wanted his wife, not him. He was there because she made it a condition of employment that they find a job for him. He may have a Ph.D. but I doubt he was on tenure track. His spouse seems to have tenure already. Something happened between him and the former chairman of history. But the chairman had retired and was not at the department for more than 2 years.

This will have to come out during the trial. Meanwhile, classes start next Monday and Mrs. Getting won't bat an eye and will be teaching.

That tenure stuff can be really brutal.

 

[wfgodot]

Well put, but his desire for a tenure-track position may have been what was blocked in committee.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Strange case! Having recently made the jump to full-time academia, I am glad every day that no such thing as tenure exists at our university. Tenure is, in my opinion, seldom a good thing.

 

[carbuff]

I'm guessing maybe a personal relationship, also known as a triangle.

 

[meanmaryjean]

I'm guessing maybe a personal relationship, also known as a triangle.

Perhaps, esp. with him dead and her returning to the classroom....

 

[darkstar105]

I seriously doubt a love triangle, having looked at pics of three of the people in the two couples, having read that Cooper's wife had never seen Gutting before, and having read short bios of the victim, the alleged killer, and the alleged killer's wife. Cooper (the victim) was a Zionist and Hornsby-Gutting (the alleged perp's wife) is what some people call a "Social Justice Warrior." Cooper was 66 and doesn't, to me, look like the type a younger woman, SJW or not, would get with. Now maybe Cooper didn't seem likely to vote for tenure for Hornsby-Gutting or something like that, and Gutting took offense or something like that. NOW WAIT here I am being sexist I guess you'd call it. I suppose the love triangle could have been Gutting (the alleged perp) and Cooper (the victim). Is that a triangle? You know what I mean--the down-low. Still. Cooper (the victim) just doesn't look very much like a person who would walk on any kind of wild side at all.

 

[carbuff]

I used to be in academics. Based on that experience, I would say that at least 80% of affairs within the academic community are about power, not sex or love. So atteactiveness or whatever is much less relevant.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ShayHay!]

Don't think it was about tenure. He was a tag-along spouse, meaning the university wanted his wife, not him. He was there because she made it a condition of employment that they find a job for him. He may have a Ph.D. but I doubt he was on tenure track. His spouse seems to have tenure already. Something happened between him and the former chairman of history. But the chairman had retired and was not at the department for more than 2 years.

This will have to come out during the trial. Meanwhile, classes start next Monday and Mrs. Getting won't bat an eye and will be teaching.

I agree that it was probably not about tenure. It is often university policy that tag-along spouses are not even eligible for tenure. I feel that this was more of a personal (as opposed to professional) vendetta.

 

[helmut3585]

At this point, we don't have enough information to make an educated guess. Mental illness is as good a guess any and is the most likely reason for someone to go berserk like that. This guy has a Ph.D. from Princeton and would have been on tenure track at any major university. Clearly something happened to him after he got his Ph.D. or he has some kind of handicap. This tag-along spouse apparently met his wife somewhere else, seems like Ole Miss. His wife is more accomplished than him, apparently, which is why they wanted her in the first place. The most likely scenario in cases like this is an untreated (or treated) mental illness that causes psychosis -- i.e., hypomanic / bipolar disorder or paranoid schizophrenia. This will probably come out well before the trial. The manner and timing of the attack which defy reason suggests another psychosis-driven homicidal attack. Truly sad but all too common among academics and graduate students who seem especially vulnerable, given how lonely an endeavor the pursuit of higher education is. These people interact with others far less frequently than those who work for a living. The academic world is all too often replete with unbalanced and isolated people suffering silently from biochemical conditions.

I agree that it was probably not about tenure. It is often university policy that tag-along spouses are not even eligible for tenure. I feel that this was more of a personal (as opposed to professional) vendetta.

 

[helmut3585]

"Some students say they had Edward Gutting as a professor. Students say he was smart and helpful, but there was something about him that seemed, in their words, off." This is why I think the above description fits. It was not driven by anything done by Dr. Cooper. It's probably the deluded mindset of Edward Gutting that skewed his perception of reality. So common among those who undergo psychoses.

http://www.kspr.com/content/news/MSU-students-return-to-campus-react-to-professors-killing-390709461.html