Man guilty of murder in university shooting

Norman Wallace, a graduate student from Youngstown, was shot to death.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A former graduate student was convicted Friday of all 196 counts, including killing a graduate student from Youngstown, in a seven-hour shooting rampage at Case Western Reserve University.
Biswanath Halder, 65, walked into the university's business school May 9, 2003, with more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition because he believed a school computer lab employee hacked into his Web site devoted to helping fellow India natives form businesses.
Halder, originally from Calcutta, India, was convicted of aggravated murder. It took Judge Peggy Foley Jones two hours and 15 minutes to read all the guilty verdicts from a 3-inch binder.
The jury signed every one of the verdict forms, which included convictions for attempted murder, aggravated burglary and kidnapping. Earlier in the trial, the judge dismissed a terrorism charge.
Halder could be sentenced to death for the murder conviction, which found him guilty of attempting to commit the mass murder of faculty members and police officers who arrived at the university during the siege.
The sentencing phase of the trial will begin Jan. 17 in Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court.
The judge ordered trial attorneys for both sides to withhold comment pending the sentencing phase.
Halder killed Norman Wallace, 30, of Youngstown, shortly after entering the building. A faculty member and another student were wounded.
Here was the scene
People in the business school on the day of the siege saw a gunman dressed in body armor, a wig and an army helmet and carrying two semiautomatic weapons and ammunition while shooting randomly. Many hid, afraid to venture into the hallways.
Halder was captured by a Cleveland police SWAT team on the building's fifth floor, after a search that was complicated by the winding and dipping hallways of the Peter B. Lewis Building.
The Wallace family wasn't present for the verdict but asked to be called about the outcome. Members of the family attended most of the trial and planned to attend the sentencing phase.
A message was left seeking comment from Wallace's uncle, Bishop Norman L. Wagner.
Case Western Reserve University President Edward M. Hundert issued a statement on the verdict: "While the pain of this incident will never completely fade, we hope the jury's decision in this matter helps in the healing process and brings some level of peace to the university community and those who have been affected."
As the judge read the verdicts, Halder scrawled on a legal pad. At times, he buried his head in his left hand. He was dressed in a gray suit with a white shirt and red tie and wore a black wig, which had been approved by the court in a motion Halder's lawyers filed at his request.
Shooter's defense
During the trial, Halder's attorneys portrayed him as obsessed with trying to determine who hacked into his Web site and deleted the files.
Halder didn't testify, and his defense, which lost a bid to argue that he was mentally ill, acknowledged he was the gunman.
Prosecutor Rick Bell said in his closing argument that it was clear from Halder's weapons and ammunition that the crime was premeditated. He reminded jurors of campus security videotapes offered as trial evidence that showed Halder methodically moving about the building and later, police rushing to the aid of a lifeless Wallace.
The jury deliberated just over a day.