UI Asks Court For Permission To Release Records

Administrators at the University of Idaho are asking a state judge for permission to release the personnel records of a former professor accused of shooting a graduate student before killing himself last week.

University lawyers filed the request Monday in 2nd District Court for a ruling on the records of 31-year-old Ernesto Bustamante.

Police say Bustamante shot and killed 22-year-old Kathryn Benoit late Monday at her off-campus home.

Investigators say Bustamante had been dating Benoit, but the relationship ended in May after Bustamante threatened her with a gun.

University officials have so far resisted requests by Benoit’s family and the media to release Bustamante’s file, citing employee privacy laws.

But university lawyers say their request will help determine if the law still applies after the death of a former employee.