The Tippecanoe County prosecutor's office has formally slapped murder charges against Cody Cousins, a 23-year-old Purdue University student, in connection to the shooting death of a fellow teaching assistant Andrew Boldt.

If found guilty, Cousins will receive a maximum jail term of 65 years and a possible fine of $10,000.

Cousins of the Dayton suburb of Centerville, Ohio, is accused of killing 21-year-old Bold Tuesday afternoon in the basement of the Electrical Engineering Building, where both the seniors served as undergraduate teaching assistants. Investigators have not yet determined the motive of the shooting.

When the police officials arrived at the scene, they noticed blood on Cousins' hands and clothes. Officers spotted a knife, handgun and shell casings on the ground beside Boldt's body. There were also bloody footprints on the floor outside the room where the shooting occurred.

Cousins, a graduate of Springboro High School in southwestern Ohio, excelled in technology and computer science, according to Karen DeRosa, school district spokeswoman.

Greg Adams, a fellow classmate of Cousins from Springboro, said that although they were not the best of friends, Cousins seemed to be a friendly person.

"From what I saw he was very outgoing," said Adams, 24. "He had a girlfriend. After school I'd see him in the computer labs and he'd be talking to his friends and girlfriend," NY Daily News reports.

Matt Herman, former high school classmate, was surprised to hear allegations against Cousins because he fared well in academics and was part of the skiing and snowboarding club in high school too.

Lab mates who worked with Cousins complained that he was a 'just all-around rude individual.' Echoing similar sentiments, Thomas Talavage, Purdue Professor and who worked with Cousins, said that he was serious and violent about his projects.

"He didn't like to be told he was wrong," Talavage said. "He tended to be more aggressive in his debating and tended to be more convinced he was right."

Ashley Eidsmore, a teaching assistant in the engineering school, who was also present near the building, said that Boldt of the Milwaukee suburb of West Bend, Wis., was an intelligent student and 'wrote emails with exclamations of excitement and wore shorts all year long.'

Currently, Cousins is being held in the Tippecanoe County Jail without bond.

Topics Purdue, Student, Murder, Death