Instructor Found Not Guilty of Murdering Colleague

Edward Gutting, a former Missouri State University instructor, was found not guilty, by reason of insanity, in the murder of a retired professor of history at the university, Marc Cooper, KY3 News reported.

Prosecutors said that despite Gutting being diagnosed with schizophrenia, he knew exactly what he was doing when he took two knives from his house and drove to the Cooper home. The incident, they said, was fueled by Gutting’s desire to replace Cooper as a tenured professor in the history department.

Defense attorneys said Gutting’s illness prevented him from understanding what he did. They say he went to the Coopers’ home to seek career advice and had a psychotic episode.