Jurors given chance to view crime scene

Biswanath Halder faces 338 felony charges in the shooting of a Valley man.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Case Western Reserve University's business school was closed Monday so that the jury in the trial of a man accused of randomly shooting inside the school and killing a graduate student could view the crime scene.
Biswanath Halder, 65, a native of Calcutta, India, is charged with 338 felony counts, including aggravated murder and terrorism. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.
Halder, an inmate in the Cuyahoga County jail, did not accompany the jury.
Myron Roomkin, dean of the Weatherhead School of Management, closed the school so that there would be no disruption for students during the jury's visit.
Dressed in a white dress shirt, red tie and a gray sport coat, Halder sat calmly in the courtroom as the judge explained to the jury of nine men and three women where they would be going.
Halder, who is balding, was not wearing a hair piece he requested last week. Defense lawyer John Luskin said one had been obtained from a business where Halder had gotten one previously, but Halder chose not to wear it because he had wanted to be fitted for a new one and the court denied a fitting.
The crime
Halder is accused of killing student Norman Wallace, a Youngstown native, inside the school. Authorities say he began shooting as he entered the winding hallways of the Peter B. Lewis Building.
A faculty member and another student were wounded. Witnesses 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 hallways, during the seven-hour siege May 9, 2003. Halder was captured by a Cleveland police SWAT team on the building's fifth floor, police have said.
The prosecution thinks Halder attacked the business school because he thought a student computer lab employee had hacked into his Web site. Halder, who graduated from Case in 1999 with a master's degree in business administration, has repeatedly said information he considered vital to his life's work was destroyed.
Judge Peggy Foley Jones set opening statements for Nov. 28.