Minnesota-Morris stabbing charges: Suspect tried to kill percussion instructor, hated college
MORRIS, Minn. (FOX 9) - A University of Minnesota-Morris student is accused of stabbing his percussion instructor and telling police he planned to kill him.
University of Minnesota-Morris stabbing
What we know:
According to charges filed in Stevens County Court, Alexander William Cusey faces four felony counts tied to what prosecutors say happened Sept. 29 at the University of Minnesota-Morris Humanity and Fine Arts building.
Cusey is charged with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm with a knife and second-degree assault with a knife.
The filing lists maximum penalties of 20 years on the attempted murder count, 20 years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine on the first-degree assault count, 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine on one second-degree assault count and seven years in prison and/or a $14,000 fine on the other.
What happened inside the Fine Arts building
Timeline:
The complaint states at 4:02 p.m. on Sept. 29 at the Humanity and Fine Arts building in Morris, a University of Minnesota-Morris public safety officer went to a report that someone had been stabbed. Clark found a witness holding a lower-level door shut near music practice rooms and found the instructor bleeding from an arm wound.
The complaint states the officer called for Cusey to come out with his hands up and took him into custody after he stepped out of a room. The school's director of public safety found a knife in the practice percussion room.
The complaint states while officers walked him upstairs, Cusey said, "You didn’t think there was someone like me at this school, did you?"
The complaint states the instructor ran to a nearby office for help after the attack and a witness called public safety. The filing says Cusey was then taken to Stevens Community Medical Center for treatment of a cut to a finger on his right hand.
The complaint states at the hospital, Cusey allegedly said, "I was trying to kill my percussion instructor and, ah, stabbed my pinky a little bit."
He also told medical staff he had tried to stab the instructor in the neck and heart, but did not succeed because the instructor avoided it.
The complaint states at 5:05 p.m. on Sept. 29, after police advised him of his rights, Cusey told authorities he bought the knife a day earlier and thought that was the reason he bought it.
"I had the knife in my pocket, and I was planning, and I did it," Cusey said.
The complaint states Cusey told authorities he hated the instructor, said he did not want to be in college and said going to prison would be one way to avoid working a regular job.
The filing says he also described violent fantasies from the past five years involving his parents, his high school and relatives.
Local perspective:
The complaint states at 4:40 p.m. on Sept. 29 at the hospital, authorities heard the instructor describe the attack and say Cusey lashed out for about 30 to 45 seconds before stopping and saying, "I broke, didn’t I?" An officer noted he saw two or three cuts on the right side of the instructor’s head and stab wounds to an arm.
The complaint says the arm wounds were hard to photograph because the instructor was in pain when moving the arm. It also says the witness told the officer the instructor taught in the back rooms and that the witness used a foot to keep the percussion room door shut after seeing Cusey through the glass.
What we don't know:
The complaint does not name the instructor in the public filing and does not say what condition the instructor was in after the incident.
The Source: Criminal charges filed in Stevens County Court.