Cody Cousins

Cody Cousins, 24, admitted in a Tippecanoe County courtroom today that he murdered fellow Purdue University student Andrew Boldt. With the guilty plea, special public defender Kirk Freeman told the Indy Star Cousins reserves the right to raise mental health questions before sentencing.

Cousins, 24, testified that he went to the Electrical Engineering Building before noon on Jan. 21 armed with a gun and a knife with the intention of killing Boldt, but no motive was discussed. The Indy Star reports Cousins told the court he entered the basement classroom, shot Boldt and then stabbed him with the knife.

“The ‘guilty but mentally ill’ will be argued at the sentencing Sept. 19,” Freeman told the newspaper.

State-appointed mental health experts who examined Cousins will testify about their findings, and Tippecanoe Superior II Judge Thomas Busch will have to determine Cousins’ insanity claims.

Cousins’ own mother is a highly credentialed therapist who works at The Bowen Center in Warsaw. A graduate of Springboro High School in Springboro, Ohio, Counsins moved to Warsaw approximately 5 years ago.

Cousins faces between 45 and 65 years in prison for the killing. The guilty plea eliminates the chance he might be found not guilty by reason of insanity. In Indiana, a defendant who raises the issue of mental health must prove the person was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions at the time of the offense, according to a Journal & Courier story published June 1.

Because Cousins admitted his guilt, all of the not-guilty options are off the table.

If he is found to be mentally ill, he will receive mental health treatment for his specific ailment during his time in prison, according to the Journal & Courier.

Sources: Indy Star and Journal & Courier