A former Missouri State University professor charged in the 2016 killing of another professor has been ruled incompetent to stand trial for first-degree murder. Edward Gutting has been turned over to the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
Gutting is accused of breaking into professor emeritus Marc Cooper’s Springfield house and stabbing him to death. Cooper’s wife also suffered minor injuries when she tried to stop Gutting.
Nancy Cooper told officers Gutting told her to stay back – that it was between the two of them. Mrs. Cooper told investigators she did not know the man.
Gutting taught history at MSU. His wife, Angela Hornsby-Gutting, also taught history there.
Cooper, who was 66, taught history at the school for nearly 35 years and continued to work there part-time, serving as the managing editor of the eJournal in Public Affairs.
The Springfield News-Leader reported police finding Gutting covered in blood outside of Cooper’s home moments after the killing. The newspaper says a search warrant giving police access to the data on Gutting’s computers showed Gutting was having money problems and he reportedly felt Cooper “was making his work life difficult.”
Cooper retired from teaching in 2014. His position was not immediately filled and Gutting might have wanted the job.
Jason Rima of Missourinet affiliate KTTS in Springfield contributed to this story
