Accused Purdue University shooter pleads guilty to murder

INDIANAPOLIS - A court official says the man accused in the fatal shooting and stabbing of a fellow Purdue University student has pleaded guilty to murder.

Cody Cousins, 24, of Warsaw, Ind., entered the plea Thursday during a Tippecanoe County court hearing in Lafayette. He has been jailed without bond since his arrest soon after the Jan. 21 attack that killed 21-year-old Andrew Boldt of West Bend, Wis., in a classroom filled with Purdue electrical engineering students.

The Lafayette Journal & Courier reports Cousins also said he intended to kill Boldt when he entered the classroom that day.

Cousins faces between 45 and 65 years in prison, according to the paper.

He had to answer several questions after deciding to plead guilty, according to CBS affiliate WLFI. Asked if he went to Purdue's campus Jan. 21 to find and kill Boldt, he responded "yes." However, he did not shed light on why he wanted to kill him.

Cousins also said he had been evaluated for mental illness and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Lafayette attorney Kirk Freeman, who is defending Cousins, filed a formal notice in May of his intention to use the defense of mental disease or defect. Cousins had told Tippecanoe Superior Court Judge Thomas Busch that he was taking medication to treat schizophrenia.

Tippecanoe Superior Court bailiff Brenda Rody told The Associated Press the judge will decide the issue of Cousins' mental state during a sentencing hearing set for Sept. 19. But his guilty plea eliminates any chance he could be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

If he is found to be mentally ill, Cousins will receive mental health treatment while serving his prison sentence.