Charges: MSU-Mankato Adviser Tried To Drug Student
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Additional charges have been filed against a Minnesota State University, Mankato community adviser who is accused of burglarizing dorm rooms and using pepper spray on a woman.
Alexander James Gowan-Nuehring, 20, is accused of breaking into a dorm of a fellow community adviser and putting pills in her water that he knew she was allergic to. He was charged Tuesday by the Blue Earth County Attorney's Office with second-degree burglary, adulterate substance capable of causing death or bodily harm and use of drugs to attempt to injure. Authorities said the incident happened last Friday at the campus.
According to a complaint, Mankato Police were called at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday to the Julia Sears dormitory after a woman reported something suspicious in her room. When officers arrived, the woman showed police a water bottle that appeared different than normal. The woman was also told the day before, while she was out of town, that Nuehring had gained access to her room but she was unable to check on anything until she got back.
She told police she only puts purified water in the bottle and does not add anything to it. The complaint states she observed that the bottle was cloudy and she observed a white, almost creamy-looking substance floating in the bottle. The substance was later determined to be penicillin.
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When interviewed by police, Nuehring admitted that one of three rooms he broke into last Friday was the woman's. He said he sent her a text message to make sure she wasn't in her room and admitted to crushing eight penicillin pills and putting them in her water bottle. He said he knew what the drug was and that she was allergic to it after she said something about it in a staffing meeting. He told police he thinks "reckless impulses" caused him to do it and that he did not have any ill will towards the woman.
The complaint states the victim told police she took about five of the 15 pills but noticed a rash and her throat began to close off.
If convicted, Nuehring faces up to 15 years in prison and up to $30,000 in fines.