Tape of Va Tech shooter’s hearing destroyed

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) — Attorneys for the families of two students killed in the Virginia Tech shootings won’t get to hear an audio tape of a hearing to decide whether the shooter would have to undergo mental health treatment.

Lawyers for the parents of Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde had requested the tape as part of discovery in the two civil lawsuits against Virginia Tech stemming from the April 2007 shootings.

But Montgomery County court officials said the recording of the hearing was likely destroyed in 2009. Shooter Seung-Hui Cho had appeared three years earlier before a special magistrate, who ordered him to outpatient counseling.

The Roanoke Times reports that state law requires the recordings be retained for at least three years. No written transcript is available, either.