[Vision2020] Drug accusations traded by former lovers

[Tom Hansen]

Without holding the University of Idaho accountable, how can we (as local residents and parents of UI students) be assured that there are no other "Ernesto Bustamantes" freely walking the halls and teaching classes at the university?

"During the interview, he [Bustamante] indicated he did not feel he had violated university policy by engaging in sexual relationships with Benoit and other students, as it was not “explicitly forbidden” under UI policy."

Courtesy of today's (October 28, 2011) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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Drug accusations traded by former lovers
By Brandon Macz Daily News staff 
A release of documents related to former University of Idaho professor Ernesto Bustamante in the wake of his brutal murder of graduate student Katy Benoit in August provides details of sex, drugs and mental illness.
Bustamante killed Benoit at her Moscow home by shooting her 11 times in the neck and chest with a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun Aug. 22, hours prior to taking his own life in a Moscow hotel room.
Following a sexual harassment complaint by Benoit on June 12, Bustamante went on the offense, accusing the 22-year-old graduate student of being a drug addict who went so far as to steal his own medication.
Documents indicate Benoit admitted to this theft, though she said she did not recall the actual act, and had been on pain killers following knee surgery at the time.
Benoit said that was when Bustamante, for a third time, threatened her life by putting a gun to her head, according to an email Carmen Suarez, director of the UI’s Office of Human Rights, Access and Inclusion, wrote to Gary Williams, chair for the English department and her co-investigator of Benoit’s complaint.
“She detailed in her interview that she ‘screwed up’ the relationship with him by stealing the pills,” according to Suarez’s email.
Suarez’s email is part of a batch of 4,200 records the UI released to the news media Thursday. The Moscow-Pullman Daily News is part of a coalition of news organizations, including the Lewiston Tribune, the Spokesman-Review of Spokane, the Idaho Statesman in Boise and The Associated Press in Boise, that obtained the documents through a public records request and court suit.
The Benoit family said Thursday night that UI officials still are holding back.
“We are greatly disappointed in the university¹s repeated failure to fully disclose everything it knows about Bustamante. Privately, over the past several weeks, we¹ve continued to hear more and more Bustamante issues that the University is not sharing,” a family statement said.
Bustamante admitted to having a sexual relationship with Benoit during a July 19 interview with Suarez and Williams. He also admitted relationships with other students that he was not advising. He initially denied Benoit’s claims and filed a defamation complaint against her in early July.
During the interview, he indicated he did not feel he had violated university policy by engaging in sexual relationships with Benoit and other students, as it was not “explicitly forbidden” under UI policy.
Nellis announced revisions to the university’s policy on consensual relationships during a Wednesday press conference. UI counsel Kent Nelson said it would prohibit sexual relationships between a student and a faculty member who serves in an academic or supervisory capacity over that student. The Faculty Senate must review the new policy.
When affair began
Benoit states in her complaint she and Bustamante’s sexual relationship began shortly after her fall 2010 enrollment in his Psychology 218 class, but Bustamante said it didn’t occur until the spring.
His claims about Benoit’s drug addiction came both during his interview and a July 11 response to Benoit’s sexual harassment complaint.
“I witnessed Ms. Benoit use marijuana on a daily basis” and sell it, he wrote, alleging she also had substance abuse problems related to prescription medication.
“The murderer¹s allegations that Katy sold drugs are 100 percent false,” the family said in the Thursday night statement.
They acknowledged that Benoit used marijuana. They said they were aware Benoit had been charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia in summer 2010. She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace, according to records.
Benoit, in a July 14 meeting with Suarez and Mo Hendrickson, an assistant in the Human Rights, Access and Inclusion office, claimed Bustamante took multiple prescription drugs and flaunted their effects in front of students, especially in his cognitive engineering and decision-making lab, saying things like, “I’m high as a kite.”
Benoit, in interviews during the UI investigation, said she has struggled with bipolar disorder since the fifth grade that included “crazy spells,” but had ceased medication in November.
Benoit’s family said in a written statement Thursday night, “From time to time, Katy dealt with depression. We do not know if the label of ‘bipolar’ was something Katy believed she had or not. We do know that Katy faced her challenges in life with courage and dignity.”
She said that in the course of her sexual relationship with Bustamante, he also indicated mental health issues. Nellis confirmed Wednesday that Bustamante also had bipolar disorder and had made his department chair aware of it early on in his employment that started in fall 2007.
Bustamante accused Benoit of letting her grades slip during the middle of the spring semester following her admittance into the UI’s graduate program, becoming less involved in her work, including in his cognitive engineering and decision-making lab.
Bustamante provided Benoit with a sterling letter of recommendation for the UI’s graduate program in February.
“Her performance in the course was exceptional and not only met but exceeded my expectations ...,” he wrote in his recommendation. “As a research assistant, I truly consider myself to be very fortunate to have the privilege to work with such a promising researcher. Kathryn has demonstrated several characteristics that set her apart from research assistants with whom I have worked in the past.”
In an adjoining summary evaluation, he gave her exceptional marks on all criteria listed. Her recommendation from a long-time music teacher was more nuanced and not entirely exceptional.
Concerned about future
Benoit’s complaint states she was concerned her future would be compromised by coming forward with her allegations as “most of my activities at this University are somehow related to him and I don’t want to ruin my academic career.”
Bustamante denied using his power as an educator and advisor against Benoit, as well as her allegations he threatened her on three separate occasions with a loaded handgun to her head. He called Benoit’s concern for her safety “malicious.”
Following Bustamante’s suicide at a Moscow hotel hours after killing Benoit, several prescription medications and six handguns were found during a search of his room, as well as a copy of Benoit’s complaint.
A search of Bustamante’s rental car, a black 2010 Chrysler Sebring, also found a 12-gauge shotgun, a .22-caliber rifle and three more handguns, as well as multiple boxes of ammunition for the respective weapons, according to an evidence receipt in court documents.
During his July 19 interview, Bustamante inquired as to what the status of the investigation would be if he resigned and was told it would be closed. Shortly after, he emailed psychology department head Ken Locke a message indicating he planned to resign.
Katherine Aiken, dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, confirmed receipt of Bustamante’s resignation on July 22, and his employment ceased Aug. 19.
In her letter to Bustamante, she stated his academic year 2012 spread pay would not need to be repaid, though that is the typical procedure.
“The University will not seek to recover this unearned salary if you are able to reach agreement on the terms of the Separation Agreement,” Aiken’s letter states.
Under the separation agreement, Bustamante retained his salary payments from May 15 to his termination date.
Advised to seek help
Leading up to and including an Aug. 22 discussion between Suarez and Benoit, documents show the HRAI director frequently advised Benoit to seek help with Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse, to contact police if she became concerned for her safety and to remain vigilant.
A July 14 email to Benoit from Suarez advising her of a pending interview with Bustamante also cautioned her to find another place to stay for a while.
“... for individuals with a capacity for violence, something like an interview on complaint charges against them could trigger a reaction against the complainant,” Suarez states.?

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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