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UA Murder suspect: Contacts describe rage and anger
TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) The family of the University of Arizona professor shot and killed on campus is filing a $9 million damage claim against the Arizona Board of Regentsthe controlling authority for U of A.
Atmospherics Science Department Head Thomas Meixner was shot and killed in October. Former graduate student Murad Dervish is charged with the killing. Dervish had been barred from the campus after being accused a threatening behavior.
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According to Meixner family attorney Greg Kuykendall, another university that Dervish attended in California had warned the U of A of Dervish’s violent history long before he came to Tucson. Kuykendall says the university had plenty of opportunities to treat Dervish as a serious threatand protect people from him.
“This was a poster boy of violence that was promising to happen. He repeatedly told them what he was going to do,” says Kuykendall. “In fact, Tom Meixner’s dying words were ‘I knew you were going to do this to me’.”
The claim for damages is not a lawsuit. The Board of Regents has 60 days to reach an agreement with the Meixner family, or the family can go ahead with a suit.