Virginia Tech President Charles Steger released a statement to university employees Tuesday addressing the discovery of Seung-Hui Cho's records at the home of former Cook Counseling Center director Robert Miller.
Steger said he wanted to "answer some questions about the discovery of the records and our ongoing efforts to make them public."
The statement obtained by the Collegiate Times focused on making the records public.
"We strongly believe it is everyone's best interest that the records be fully disclosed, and we have communicated this directly to the attorney for Cho's estate, Bernard DiMuro. We hope that sunshine into these records can illuminate some missing and important information about Cho in the fall of 2005," the statement said.
Cho's estate must approve of the records being made public.
The statement said Steger was disappointed with Miller.
"It goes without saying that we were greatly disappointed to learn that, over the last three years, the records were discovered to be in the possession of the former director of the counseling center, Dr. Robert Miller," the statement said. "That Dr. Miller immediately returned the records to the University is to his credit. But that he had them at all is troubling. Dr. Miller's removal of these records was unauthorized and is in opposition to standard university policy and operating procedures."
Steger also attempted to provide a time line for the discovery of the documents.
"The university became aware of the discovery of Cho's records on Thursday, July 16, after Dr. Miller's attorney informed the Virginia Attorney General's office," the statement said. "Dr. Miller returned the records to Cook Counseling Center on Thursday afternoon. I was out of the office, but I was informed on Thursday about the discovery."
The statement continued to explain that Miller's lawyer was unavailable on the following Friday, so the "legally correct course of action" was not determined until Monday, July 19.
Friday:
The former director of Cook Counseling center who found Seung-Hui Cho's mental health records in his home has released a statement that says he did not intentionally take the documents from the center.
The statement, made through attorney Ed McNelis, said Miller inadvertently removed the records of Cho and several other students when he left his post as director.
It said "Dr. Miller inadvertently placed documents regarding Mr. Cho in a box he packed with his personal documents during the time he was leaving the Center."
The box was first opened, according to the statement, days ago in search of documents that may relate to the civil suit filed by the families of April 16 victims Julia Pryde and Erin Peterson. The statement said "Dr. Miller was very surprised to find that he had documents regarding Mr. Cho."
Miller is named as a defendant.
"Dr. Miller deeply regrets that his inadvertence has caused so much distress for the families of the victims as well as his former colleagues at Virginia Tech," the statement said.
Robert Hall, a lawyer representing the Pryde and Peterson families, said Miller had not been contacted for an interview or any information.
The statement said Miller's "candor and diligence" in returning the documents showed he had no ill intent.
Miller is currently employed by Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine. The school's Web site now says Miller is on "administrative leave."
Wednesday:
Gov. Tim Kaine sent e-mails today to families of April 16 victims announcing that Seung-Hui Cho's medical records have been found. In the past, Virginia Tech told families the records from Cook Counseling Center were lost.
Related: Memo to civil suit lawyers
Gov. Tim Kaine sent e-mails Wednesday to families of April 16 victims announcing that Seung-Hui Cho's medical records have been found. In the past, Virginia Tech told families the records from Cook Counseling Center were lost.
The records were found in the midst of the civil suit against Tech and the Commonwealth of Virginia filed by the families of Julia Pryde and Erin Peterson, who were killed along with 30 others on the Tech campus in Cho's April 16, 2007 shootings.
According to a memo sent from Tech legal counsel Mary Beth Nash to a lawyer in the civil case, former Cook Counseling Center Director Robert C. Miller located the file at his house and returned it to the center Thursday.
The memo states that an extensive search was conducted by Virginia State Police in an attempt to find the missing record in the aftermath of the shootings, but the documents were not found at that time.
Miller told the university that he thinks the records were removed when he left the center, more than a year prior to the shootings. He is listed as a defendant on the civil suit.
The suit specifically refers to Miller and Cook Counseling Center, saying Miller "was specifically notified by Dr. Gerard Kowalski, the Director of Residence Life, that Mr. Cho, 'who had a history of erratic behavior and counseling based issues over the course of the semester' and 'had expressed suicidal ideations' and 'had previously had 'blades' in his room' was detained at the New River Valley Medical Center for further examination/counseling."
The suit goes on to allege Cho's December 14, 2005 visit to the center should have been handled differently, saying "Mr. Cho was seen for 45 minutes by a therapist who was provided no history of his prior contacts with the Cook Counseling Center, no history of Dr. Roy's request for intervention, no history of his adjudication as one mentally ill who posed a risk of harm to himself and others, no history of his violent writings and no history of his erratic behavior."
Robert Hall, a lawyer representing the Pryde and Peterson families in the civil case, said the discovery of the records "raises far more questions than it answers."
Hall said Miller's possession of the records was questionable.
"Why would you take any records?" Hall said. "And why, particularly this kid, to your home?"
Hall also took interest in the wording of the memo, which said Miller transferred from the center.
"We were always told he'd been director for a while and decided he wanted to do other things," Hall said.
He said the word "transfer" raises questions about continued access to files at the center.
University spokesman Mark Owczarski said Miller's move from his position as director of the center was a "personnel matter." He also said Miller worked at the university until 2008, two years after his position change. According to Miller's curriculum vitae, he worked as a clinical and consulting psychologist for the university's human relations department from 2006 until his retirement from Tech in 2008.
Current Cook Counseling Center director Chris Flynn took over Miller's position on September 11, 2006.
Owczarski spoke to each media outlet separately after being ordered by Kaine's office not to give a press conference.
Owczarski said the university did not know how the records reached Miller's home and could not even verify he located them in his home.
According to Owczarski, Miller was questioned in the original investigation of the shootings by the Virginia State Police, but told investigators he did not know the location of the files.
Miller could not be reached for comment.
He was director of the center from 2002 to 2006, according to his curriculum vitae. He is currently listed as an Assistant Professor of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg.
Owczarski said Flynn was not available for comment on the topic.
Hall said he will look into whether or not Miller had access to the center after his departure, as Miller still works in Blacksburg, at the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and worked for the university through 2008.
"He said he took these records with him at the time of his transfer," Hall said. "I am not obligated to believe that."
The notoriety of the shootings should have triggered Miller to remember he had the record, Hall said.
"It amazes me that while all of this is going on, the doctor does not have recall," Hall said. "It sits uneasily with me."
Hall said he is still researching Miller's possession of the documents in the Virginia code to check for possible criminal implications. He pointed out that Cho's treating therapist was Sherry Lynch Conrad, not Miller.
"It appears to be not just out of the ordinary," Hall said. "It appears to be illegal. He shouldn't have had them. They belonged to the Cook Counseling Center. They had no business going home with Dr. Miller. He was not a treating therapist."
Hall said Miller had not been contacted by anyone from the plaintiffs' side and an interview had not been scheduled. He said they will wait to see the contents of the records before they schedule an interview with Miller.
He said Tech English professor Lucinda Roy's pleas for Cho to be treated will be compared to the medical records. She corresponded with Miller via e-mail. Hall said Cho's interactions with the center were not out of the ordinary.
"It appears his mental health visits and telephone triages were kind of ho-hum because there was no follow up," Hall said.
Hall said Cho's family must approve of the documents being made public, but is not sure if the contents are the most important development.
"The fact that they were missing probably says more than the contents," Hall said.
Questions are mounting among families of April 16 victims after Wednesday's discovery of Seung-Hui Cho's mental health records.
Michael Pohle, whose son Michael Pohle Jr. was killed in Norris Hall, said the aftermath of the shootings has been filled with questionable actions.
"It just reaffirms my belief that there has been a very concerted effort to keep this as quiet and unknown as possible," Pohle said.
Pohle said he would not have signed the settlement had the current wealth of information been available at that time.
"Never," Pohle said. "The only reason we signed was because the medical coverage for the survivors would not have been there if we had taken it to court."
Pohle said he still believes there are pieces of the puzzle that have not been revealed by investigators.
"It really has me concerned that there is a lot missing," Pohle said.
In the memo, the university said it is their "strong desire" that the records be made public.
A lawsuit filed by the families of Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde on the two year anniversary of the shootings alleged negligence on the part of Miller and Cook Counseling Center.
The Peterson and Pryde families did not sign the settlement.
The suit said the therapist that saw Cho on December 14, 2005 "made no threat assessment, made no diagnosis, offered no treatment, has lost her notes and claims to have no specific memory of this patient."
It continues on to say "The therapist made no such evaluations because Virginia Tech had not adopted any plan, program, policy, process or protocol requiring that such an evaluation be made of any student thought to pose a risk of harm to himself or others."
Former director Robert Miller is listed as a defendant in the suit, as he was supervising the center at the time of Cho's visit.
Suzanne Grimes, whose son Kevin Sterne was injured in Norris Hall, said the center had shown inconsistencies in its dealings with April 16 families.
In meetings with families in the aftermath of the shootings, scheduled under the guidelines of the legal settlement with most families, Grimes said current Director Chris Flynn said Cho's record was one of many lost.
In the next meeting, Grimes said he told the families only Cho's was lost.
The new developments are troubling to Grimes.
"It clearly show there's more information they're hiding," Grimes said.
Andrew Goddard, whose son Colin Goddard was injured in Norris Hall, said the records should have been found in the original investigation when Cook Counseling Center employees were questioned.
"My first gut reaction, of course, is, 'Why didn't they look there in the first place?','" Goddard said.
He said those who worked at the facility when Cho was treated should have also been investigated.
"I would have thought if you worked there at the time you would have been a person of interest, and would have been interviewed," Goddard said.
Pohle said he did not think Miller kept the records by accident.
"I find this unbelievable," Pohle said. "I do not believe that the former director, having those in his home, kind of shrugged his shoulders at the time when everybody was looking for them."
Miller had already left the center when the shootings occurred, but Goddard questioned why he still had the records.
"If you no longer work somewhere you surely return everything you have from there," Goddard said. "Including the stapler."
The records will not be made public until Cho's estate approves of the release.
Gov. Kaine said in a press conference the state will investigate the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the records.