In the immediate aftermath of a brutal killing on their porch, the roommates of a slain Idaho graduate student told a 911 operator that they could think of only one person who could have fired the fatal shots — a college professor their friend had recently dated.
Meghan Walker-Smith and Emma Gregory were heard on the 911 recording released Thursday telling a dispatcher that Katy Benoit had dated a University of Idaho professor, Ernesto A. Bustamante, who had just been asked to leave the school. When the 911 dispatcher asked the two, who could both be heard speaking on the call, whether Bustamante had been asked to leave the university because of Benoit, one roommate replied: "Yeah."
"He just got asked to leave the university that's why I'm assuming this would happen," she said.
Bustamante, 31, committed suicide in a hotel room after shooting Benoit, 22, with multiple times outside her Moscow home late Monday, according to police.
Roommates found Benoit on porch
Benoit's roommates told police they had been baking cookies that night when she stepped outside for a cigarette and about two minutes later, they heard gunfire. During the 911 call, the roommates told the dispatcher they fled the home after finding Benoit on the porch covered in blood.
The 911 dispatcher asked whether the women knew anyone who would want to shoot Benoit, one roommate named Bustamante. "That's the only person I know of," she said.
A neighbor, Lorne Hetsler, later told police he also heard the shots and saw a man, whom authorities later identified as Bustamante, leaving the home in a dark trench coat and hat.
Court documents released earlier this week offered details into the relationship between Bustamante and Benoit, including violent encounters described by friends and roommates.
Benoit's roommates told police her romance with Bustamante ended in March and after the breakup, Benoit had said Bustamante pointed a handgun at her on multiple occasions and at one point had put a gun in her mouth, according to a police affidavit.
Benoit's roommates told police she filed a complaint with the university in June and Bustamante was either fired or forced to resign as a result.
Benoit's family issued a statement Wednesday after the release of court documents. The family called on the university to disclose how it responded to the complaint against a professor who sometimes referred to himself as "the beast" and, police say, eventually killed Benoit after their romance ended.
The university confirmed Bustamante resigned effective last Friday, but has declined to comment on employment, the existence of a relationship between him and a student, or any actions that were taken with respect to Bustamante and Benoit, citing public records laws and school policies.
Sour relationship
Benoit's family said she had become increasingly alarmed about Bustamante's behavior and had taken steps to get away from the man after their relationship soured. Benoit's roommates told police they had also been concerned for her well-being because Bustamante had weapons and multiple personalities.
Rowdy J. Hope identified himself as a close friend of Bustamante and confirmed the former professor "had multiple handguns and multiple personality disorders to include one Bustamante calls a 'psychopathic killer' and another Bustamante calls 'the beast,' " according to the police affidavit.
The university hired Bustamante in 2007 and he was an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and Communication. Benoit earned her undergraduate degree from the university in 2010 and had just started her graduate studies in the psychology department.
University of Idaho Dean of Students Bruce Pitman said Thursday he had recently spoken with the family to discuss a campus memorial service and to find out whether there were any students who were particularly close to Benoit and should be counseled in the aftermath of her death.
Classes on the northern Idaho campus started Monday.
"I think that in general, the news is shocking, the nature of the incident is very disconcerting for many people," Pitman said. "Moscow is a very safe place; it's also a quiet place. When an incident like this happens it shakes your fundament understanding of the place you call home.