An Illinois college has announced that a professor will teach at its university this year despite the fact that he killed his family.
Administrators at the private university in Illinois are standing by the teacher, despite revelations that he shot and killed his father, mother and teenage sister, more than 40 years ago.
In a statement Tuesday, officials from Millikin University said they would allow the Professor of Psychology, James St. James, to continue teaching despite having learned of his past.
On August 4, 1967, the 16-year-old St. James, allegedly entered the room of his family with a .22 caliber rifle, shot his father twice in the chest, walked into the room and shot his teenage sister in the chest. When she fell to the ground, he shot an extra round in her face. St. James has fired a bullet into his mother's chest and shot her two more times in the head.
St. James admitted to the killings at that time, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He spent the next six years in a mental institution and was released.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Millikin University officials said they would allow St. James to continue teaching despite the surprising revelations.
"Given the traumatic experiences of St. James’ childhood, the efforts of the doctor to rebuild his life and have a successful professional career has been remarkable," the university said in a statement.
"The University expects that St. James will teach at Millikin this fall," the statement added.
After St. James left the mental institution in 1974, he reportedly changed his name and then earned a doctorate in psychology. He became a professor of psychology at the Millikin University in 1986.
