The former Virginia Tech official who had Seung-Hui Cho's mental health records in his home said he had not known he had taken the documents until a few days ago.
Robert Miller, former director of the university's counseling center, said he inadvertently packed Cho's records in a box with personal documents when he left the center in February 2006. That was 14 months before Cho killed 32 students and teachers at Tech in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. It was two months after a judge ordered Cho to receive mental health care at the counseling center.
In a written statement released this afternoon by his lawyer, Miller said he opened the box containing the Cho records for the first time when looking for documents that might be relevant in lawsuits filed by families of two of the students who died that day. Those suits name him among the officials alleged to have been negligent in monitoring and treating Cho.
The statement said Miller was very surprised to discover the documents. He said he found them in the evening and returned them to the counseling center the next day. Tech's legal counsel has said the school received the documents on Thursday, July 16. The Virginia State Police say they first gained access to the records on Tuesday.
Miller said he deeply regretted his inadvertent actions distressed families of the deceased, as well as former colleagues at Tech.
The discovery of the documents was announced yesterday by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, though officials did not immediately detail the circumstances under which they were discovered.
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