Millikin University stands behind professor who killed family as teen

August 2, 2013 (DECATUR, Ill.) (WLS) -- A 45-year-old grisly triple murder case has been solved. but the identity of the alleged killer has stunned a downstate Illinois University.

James St. James, chair of the Millikin department of behavior sciences has been identified as the person who killed his father, mother and sister when he was a teenager.

"How many of us really know our professors?" asked Millikin student Tosha Duzan.

She wondered about her first professor at the college, adding she learned a lot from him.

"I have this mental image of this man that I've learned from, that hundreds and hundreds of kids have learned from," she said.

When St. James was 15 years old, his father was shot in the chest, his mother and sister shot in the face.

"It hurt my heart because I was torn. I was really torn," Duzan said.

A reporter for a Texas newspaper had started investigating the case. The 15-year-old had been ruled insane, and then disappeared. The reporter discovered St. James had changed his name and was teaching at Milliken.

"I cried because I'm a student, but I'm also a mom," said Duzan. "I can't even imagine. He was 15. My son is 14. I can't even imagine anybody going through that."

Even so, Duzan and some fellow students agree. They would still recommend St. James classes to other students.

St. James was institutionalized for six years until doctors declared him sane.

Millikin University has released a statement that since St. James had changed his name, tere was no record of the three murders in his background check.

The university supports St. James and expects him back on campus in the fall.

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illinois news, linda yu

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