Purdue University student facing murder charges after killing roommate in dorm room

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (CBS) —  A Purdue University student  was charged with murdering his roommate in a dorm room on campus, according to campus police.

Purdue University Police Chief Lesley Wiete said the suspect, Ji Min Sha, called police around 12:44 a.m. to report his roommate, Varun Manish Chheda, 20, was dead. Wiete said Sha will be booked later today on the murder charge. Sha was booked on the murder charge in Tippecanoe County Jail on Wednesday afternoon.  He is currently being held without bond. 

The two shared a room at McCutcheon Hall on the first floor, Wiete said. She declined to discuss any weapons used.  However, Chedda was stabbed multiple times, according to the autopsy report issued early Wednesday afternoon from the Tippecanoe County coroner. His death was ruled a homicide. 

Wiete called the murder unprovoked and senseless. 

Police are on campus investigating and say there is no threat to the campus.

Sha, 22, is a junior from Korea studying cybersecurity. Chheda, 20, of Indianapolis. was a senior who studied data science.

In explaining why no university-wide alert was issued, Wiete said police took Sha into custody within minutes after receiving the 911 call and said there was no threat to other students. She said eight other students were moved from their rooms so that police could conduct their investigation. 

“This is as tragic an event as we can imagine happening on our campus and our hearts and thoughts go out to all of those affected by this terrible event,” Purdue President Mitch Daniels said in a statement. 

“We do not have all the details yet. Our Purdue University Police Department is conducting a thorough investigation of this incident so that we all may learn more about what transpired.”

One McCutcheon Hall resident said these events don’t sit right with him.

“Back home, where I’m from, we used to leave our doors open all the time, and we would be in our friends’ houses. Especially in my area of residence. I would be going to my friends’ houses overnight, and we wouldn’t be thinking twice, because the place that I’m from, we’re kind of used to it. Mostly because it’s a rather safe area,” Purdue freshman Jad Khalaf said. “Which, Purdue also is pretty safe, but it really surprised me. That’s why it doesn’t really sit right with me, about how something like this could happen so easily.”

The University said it has clinicians available for walk-in appointments, and will provide crisis counseling services to those who need it.     

It’s the first homicide on campus since 2014. 

In 2014, Cody Cousins killed Andrew Boldt in the university’s Electrical Engineering building. Cousin pleaded guilty, was sentenced, then died by suicide in a Michigan City jail later that year. 

“In general, I do what I want and I deal with the consequences later,” Cousins, who pleaded guilty this summer, told the court during his sentencing.