Murder-Suicide shooting at the University of Idaho

[Jill1228]

The victim was an Alpha Gamma Delta alumna


http://m.spokesman.com/stories/2011/...aduate-school/
August 24, 2011

Kathryn Benoit was excited about the future – just starting grad school at the University of Idaho in the psychology department – when Moscow police say she was killed by a former assistant professor Monday.

Benoit, a 22-year-old Boise resident when she wasn’t at school in Moscow, was mourned by family and friends Tuesday who knew her as Katy.

“Katy was a beautiful, intelligent and musically talented woman, and we are so saddened by her tragic death,” parents Janet and Gary Benoit said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “Katy was a friend to many people and a loving daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece and cousin. Thank you to our many friends and the communities of Moscow and Boise for your love, support and prayers.”

Benoit earned her undergraduate degree in psychology at UI last year. She was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.

Police say assistant psychology professor Ernesto A. Bustamante, 31, shot Benoit several times outside her Moscow home Monday night.

They also say Bustamante shot himself in the head as officers were in the process of serving a search warrant on his motel room Tuesday morning.

Benoit played cello as a member of the Boise High School Orchestra that toured Europe.

She also was an excellent piano player and all-around musician, said Wendy Hartman, who taught Benoit music from eighth grade to her senior year in high school.

“She was just so extremely bright, it’s hard to find the words to describe her … she cared about other people,” Hartman said. “It was a joy to know her. … She and the rest of her family are just special people.”

“We are all reeling from the loss. … She was a profoundly gifted girl,” said Sarah Halbach, a friend of the Benoit family whose kids grew up together. “She was so excited about the future. She was about to teach intro to psychology. … It seemed like she had found her place.”

University officials have not said if Benoit was ever Bustamante’s student.

Bustamante had no prior criminal record in Idaho outside of a few traffic tickets in Latah County, according to court records. He attended the University of Central Florida and Old Dominion University, where he graduated with a doctorate in human factors psychology, according to his résumé page on the website Linkedin. Among the academic specialities he listed is “decision-making.”

[knight_shadow]

Psi U MC Vito mentioned this in another thread.

Horrible

[Jill1228]

Oops I missed it. I was just chatting with a friend of mine who is a Idaho Alpha Gam alumna

[shirley1929]

Absolutely horrible.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by Jill1228

Oops I missed it. I was just chatting with a friend of mine who is a Idaho Alpha Gam alumna

Oh, no, I was just saying that I remembered reading it here on the site.

[victoriana]

That's so awful. Prayers to her family and sisters.

[AUKD]

Such horrible news. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends during this difficult time.

[Benzgirl]

Keep VandalSquirrel in your thoughts. She posted this on the Alpha Gam thread last night and it is hitting very close to home.

[AGDee]

For those in the area, there will be a candlelight vigil for Katy tomorrow night at 7 pm. at Friendship Square, according to the chapter's Facebook page. The chapter is having a sisterhood event tonight for alumnae and sisters to decorate cookies, share stories about Katy, and support each other.

Please keep all of our sisters at Idaho in your prayers.

[Psi U MC Vito]

I just found out about the Greek connection yesterday. And don't feel bad about missing it Jill, my connection to U of I was not public knowledge on GC. My thoughts are with the Alpha Gamma Delta here.

[VandalSquirrel]

I have no words that can explain my reaction to this article.

http://www.standard.net/stories/2011...murder-suicide

[33girl]

If he REALLY thinks that's what this is about, he's an idiot who shouldn't be allowed to drive a car let alone hold an elected office.

If he's just jumping on the situation to try and politicize it, he's a complete asshole.

Not sure which is worse.

[agzg]

"Gun safety courses?" What is this? I can't even.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If he REALLY thinks that's what this is about, he's an idiot who shouldn't be allowed to drive a car let alone hold an elected office.

If he's just jumping on the situation to try and politicize it, he's a complete asshole.

Not sure which is worse.

Originally Posted by agzg

"Gun safety courses?" What is this? I can't even.

That's just one facet of the victim blaming. There has been a lot of University blaming but the University was able to share what transpired with Katy as FERPA ceased to exist once she was murdered. However the law is still protecting his employment record but the University President was urging University Counsel to have that legally lifted and for an independent investigation into actions taken to protect her. This is not just for her family to have answers about the last few months of her life, but to shut up people who are saying UI did nothing for her.

The whole gun thing is moot as she was shot off campus at her private residence, but also stems from previous attempts by a law student (surprise surpise ) who moved into campus family housing, and there is a lot of affordable housing in town so it isn't like he had no other option, and then decided his 2nd Amendment rights were being violated. Campus/state law states no firearms can be on campus, including student housing, and must be kept at the weapon lock up run through the Moscow PD. Lots of things aren't allowed in campus housing that one could do off campus, so perhaps he should have read his contract before signing it and chosen to live elsewhere. This all went down in the past calendar and academic year, and is easy to find if you google, his last name is Tribble, like from Star Trek.

Now I've had training for multiple fire arms, needed one for work, shot skeet for fun, earned a badge in Girl Scouts while in single digits for my marksmanship, and feel comfortable and safe being around and using weapons. I frankly don't think any of that training, especially if I wasn't actively carrying (as Katy wasn't) is going to help me survive what was reported. She was sitting on the front step of her house smoking a cigarette, about an hour after sunset, and a lot of our streets have beautiful trees and no street lights. He rolled up in a black rental car so it probably wasn't recognizable to her, it was reported he was dressed in a long dark coat, hat, so not only did he have the element of surprise, but he had a .45 handgun and shot her 11 times in the throat and chest. If any of these victim blamers who believe fire arm education is the answer think they could survive that, even if they had a weapon, they are delusional. He had a total of six fire arms, let me list them from the article because it is unbelievable:

-- Smith and Wesson M&P .45-caliber handgun, is believed to be the weapon used to murder Benoit.

-- Smith and Wesson .44-caliber revolver, believed to be the weapon used by Bustamante to commit suicide.

-- Springfield Armory .45-caliber handgun.

-- Ruger LCP .380-caliber handgun.

-- Glock 9mm caliber handgun.

-- Taurus Judge .45 caliber / .410 gauge handgun.

The people who witnessed what happened and were able to give details to the police, as well as her roommates who came out to find her, could have easily been his victims as well with the amount of fire power he had. Even if someone had a handgun it could have turned even worse once the police arrived. The gun that was mentioned as the weapon they believed he used on her hold 10 rounds plus one, so he had to have been close enough since every single shot hit her. I don't think they can understand how ignorant their statements are, who could survive that situation, training or no training, weapon or no weapon? It was released today she met with UI people earlier last Monday who informed her his last day had been Friday and it has been reported he was leaving town for a new job in New Jersey. It takes some real nerve to blame her and have guns as the hindsight savior when this could have been the first time in months she felt like she could sit on her front porch and have a cigarette. I've only read and seen men making these comments, and they probably are only familiar with stalking as something done to deer and not living a life that is possibly filled with terror, fear, shame, stress, confusion, depression, and all of the other things that victims of stalking, harassment, and domestic violence feel.

Mad props to the University of Idaho Argonaut for being the most professional media outlet to handle this. I've found them to be disappointing in the past, to the point of using a few copies for incidents of litter box problems and essentially it was worth more to me as something to protect my house from cat feces and urine. They were covering it Monday night with facebook, tweeting, and have been the most professional and respectful. They are so on it they got a copy of the affidavit http://www.uiargonaut.com/sections/n..._affidavit.pdf and put it on the website.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/0...k=omni_popular

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/0...s-details.html

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/0...questions.html

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/0...-the-mark.html

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/0...ranscript.html There is also audio of the call on many sites, someone was playing it and had their sound on, what I heard was chilling.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/0...on-murder.html