Sheriff: UI Professor Had Cleared Background Check

Authorities say a University of Idaho professor who gunned down a graduate student he had recently dated and then killed himself last week had previously cleared a background check and was issued a concealed weapons permit.

Latah County Sheriff Wayne Rausch says no flags were raised when 31-year-old Ernesto Bustamante applied for the firearms permit, which was issued about five months before the murder-suicide in late August.

The Lewiston Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/qjtUbN ) a request for copies of Bustamante’s application and permit were denied. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson says that’s because these records are exempt from public disclosure in Idaho, even if the person issued the permit is dead.

Police say Bustamante resigned from the university three days before killing 22-year-old Katy Benoit outside her Moscow home last Monday.

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Information from: Lewiston Tribune, http://www.lmtribune.com