http://www.ottumwacourier.com/site/news.cfm?brd=2575 By:ERIKA RICHARDS, Courier correspondent 06/15/2005 FAIRFIELD - Days and hours before attacking Levi Butler last year in the campus dining hall, Maharishi University of Management classmates had observed "unusual behavior" by Shuvender Sem, who was found not guilty Monday in the first-degree murder death of Butler by reason of insanity. More details around the death of the MUM student last year became available this week after the court released its written verdict along with findings of fact in the case. According to court documents, Butler and John Killian, who also was attacked by Sem earlier in the day of March 1, 2004, were acquaintances of Sem while Killian shared a dormitory with his attacker. Apparently, there was no prior dispute or disagreement between either Killian or Butler and Sem and court documents reveal that there appeared to be no warning or provocation at the time of the fatal attack against Butler. At about 2 p.m. that day, while attending an afternoon class at the university, Sem assaulted Killian by stabbing him in the jaw with a ballpoint pen, resulting in the later charge of assault to commit serious injury. Following the attack on Killian, Sem's professors removed him from class and escorted him to an apartment for closer observation. At about 6:40 p.m., without anyone's knowledge, Sem left the apartment with a kitchen paring knife and went to the dining hall. He was found eating dinner with other students. Butler was eating his evening meal with another group of students a few tables away from Sem. Near the end of the meal, Sem stood up and moved to a seat next to Butler. Shortly thereafter, and while Butler was visiting with Sem, Sem stood up and yelled "What the [expletive] did you just say to me? What the hell is going on?" and then attacked Butler. Some of the witnesses closest to the scene thought Sem was just punching Butler but it was not until they saw Butler grab his chest and saw blood pouring from the wound that they realized he had been stabbed. Witnesses said that immediately after the attack, Butler looked very confused, and then collapsed. Sem appeared to be angry and excited and within seconds became very calm and seemed to be smiling with a "vacant" look on his face and at one point said, "I'm sorry, really sorry," according to those witnesses. One of the students held Sem from behind until police investigators arrived. Police say that when he was detained in the patrol car, Sem was crying and then seconds later, he had a big smile on his face. After being transported by emergency personnel to the Jefferson County Hospital, Butler was unresponsive, not breathing on his own, and died at 8:30 p.m. Other psychiatric reports said that Sem had engaged in unusual behaviors in the approximately six weeks that he had been on campus. He would often engage in sudden outbursts of aggression which were surprising and confusing to other students. Judge E. Richard Meadows Monday accepted the conclusions from both the prosecution and defense that Sem was insane when he stabbed Butler and ordered Sem to be committed to the Oakdale Correctional Facility for further treatment and evaluation.
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