New documents released show a former Ole Miss professor had a criminal history in Oxford before he was arrested in connection with his colleague’s murder at Missouri State University last month.
Edward M. Gutting, 42, was charged with second-degree murder after stabbing Missouri State professor Marc Cooper, 66, to death on the night of Aug. 19, 2016.
Gutting and his wife, Angela Hornsby-Gutting, taught at Ole Miss before they joined Missouri State University’s faculty in 2011. Gutting taught in the Ole Miss Classics Department from 2003 to 2008 and Hornsby-Gutting taught history.
Gutting was arrested and later charged with simple assault while in Oxford.
According to several eyewitness accounts in the police report filed, Gutting and Hornsby-Gutting were eating dinner at Tequila’s Mexican Bar and Grill on University Avenue when one of two men at another table whistled at a female friend in the restaurant. Gutting walked to the table and asked, “What the f*ck is your problem?” Gutting then slapped him, knocked his ball cap off and left a red mark on the right side of his face.
Gutting’s version of the report was different: Gutting said the two teenagers were “cussing out loud” while the couple was eating dinner, so he went to their table and told them to shut up. Gutting denied striking anyone according to police records. He was arrested on charges of simple assault on March 18, 2009.
On Aug. 12, 2010, Gutting was arrested for allegedly inhalation of toxic vapors according to police reports. Gutting and Hornsby-Gutting were allegedly inhaling nitrous oxide, often called “laughing gas,” in a parked car on North Lamar Boulevard.
After moving with Hornsby-Gutting to work at Missouri State, Gutting had additional issues with law enforcement.
On July 24, 2015, Gutting was charged with driving while intoxicated and completed 40 hours of community service from August of 2015 until March of 2016 with “excellent” marks, according to documents filed in the Greene County Circuit Court.
According to the Springfield News-Leader, Gutting’s lawyer Dee Wampler said the defense “reasonably believes (Gutting) may suffer from a Mental Disease or Defect Excluding Responsibility and lacks capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his own defense.”
Associate Professor of philosophy Neil Manson knew Gutting when Gutting first joined the Classics department in 2003.
“We’ve all been shocked by this,” Manson said. “It’s a mystery.”
Although they worked on the same floor throughout Gutting’s time at Ole Miss, Manson and Gutting were not close by the time Gutting and Hornsby-Gutting left for Missouri State and had not spoken in several years. Manson said he found out about Gutting’s arrest through social media.
Gutting is in jail in Springfield, Missouri, on $1 million bond.
