Change of plea coming for MSU instructor accused of killing colleague
Attorneys for Edward Gutting, the Missouri State University instructor accused of killing his former colleague, said Monday they plan on entering a new plea.
Springfield attorney Dee Wampler said he plans on filing a motion this week to change Gutting's plea from not guilty to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
A judge will eventually decide whether to accept the new plea, Wampler said.
Gutting, 44, is accused of rushing into a Springfield home on Aug. 17, killing retired MSU professor Marc Cooper, 66, and also injuring Cooper's wife, Nancy.
Gutting has been charged with first-degree murder and four other felonies.
If investigators have discovered a motive for the attack, they haven't revealed it yet.
Wampler has focused on Gutting's mental competency as he builds a defense for his client, asking for a mental exam less than two weeks after taking the case in August. A court hearing on Gutting's amended plea has been scheduled for March 20.
Springfield police have said little publicly about a possible motive for the killing. In the days after Cooper's death, investigators said they knew what happened, but they didn't know why.
Gutting was originally charged with second-degree murder after police say they found him covered in blood outside of Cooper's home moments after the killing.
Prosecutors have since upgraded the charge to first-degree murder, indicating they might have uncovered evidence that Gutting deliberated before killing Cooper.
A probable cause statement used to charge Gutting says Marc and Nancy Cooper were sitting inside their home in the 600 block of East University Street on Aug. 17 at 7:45 p.m. when Gutting came in through the back door wielding a large knife.
Gutting chased Marc Cooper through the kitchen into the living room, knocked him down and stabbed him to death, according to the statement.
Nancy Cooper was also cut several times as police say she tried to fight with Gutting — whom jail records list at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds.
The statement says Gutting told Nancy Cooper at one point "it was between him and Cooper," and he didn't want to kill her — but he would if he had to.
Gutting is also charged with second-degree assault, burglary and two counts of armed criminal action.
In a previously filed motion, Wampler said the defense "reasonably believes Defendant may suffer from a Mental Disease or Defect Excluding Responsibility and lacks capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his own defense."
Gutting is a Princeton University graduate and taught in MSU's department of Modern and Classical Languages.
Police have said Cooper and Gutting knew one another, but they were not friends.
Gutting's wife, Angela Hornsby-Gutting, is also a professor at Missouri State University.
Cooper, Gutting and Hornsby-Gutting worked in the history department together from 2011-2014, according to an MSU spokeswoman.
Before Gutting followed his wife to Missouri State University as a tag-along hire, he was an assistant professor of classics at the University of Mississippi for eight years, from 2003 to 2011.
The News-Leader previously reported there was a police report of the Guttings huffing nitrous oxide in Mississippi, a drunken driving charge in Springfield, and bankruptcy filings that indicate he and his wife experienced recent financial difficulties.
Court documents indicate police have searched Gutting's home in the Cherry Hills subdivision, Gutting's Mercedes-Benz station wagon and the MSU offices belonging to Gutting and Hornsby-Gutting.
One of the search warrants says Gutting told police he was "really drunk" before they questioned him on the night of the homicide.