Pohle and Suzanne Grimes, whose son was shot and still has a bullet in him, said the revelation may call into question the $11 million settlement that all but two victims' families signed with the university. "It just infuriates me that all of a sudden now, these records have magically appeared from a former director," she said. "When you retire, you take the pictures off the wall. You don't take records. It doesn't make sense. And it raises a whole new set of questions about accountability for Virginia Tech."
Kaine promised a full criminal investigation and said he was eager to learn more about the circumstances under which Cho's records were taken to Miller's home.
Neither Miller, who retired last year, nor his attorney responded to phone and e-mail messages Wednesday.
Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski said the university questioned Miller about Cho and the records shortly after the shootings. "Miller was asked if he knew the whereabouts of those files and he said he did not," Owczarski said.
Geller, the state police spokeswoman, could not confirm whether Miller had been interviewed because the investigation into the 2007 massacre is still open. "The state police are now investigating the circumstances, whereabouts and the discovery of the missing documents in order to determine if, in fact, a criminal act was committed," she said.
Owczarski said the university received Cho's records "from Miller or his attorney" at 5 p.m. July 16. Kaine was informed through the attorney general's office on Monday.
Miller is named in a civil lawsuit that two families who lost children in the shooting have filed against the university, alleging "gross negligence."
Robert Hall, the Fairfax lawyer representing the families of Julia Pryde and Erin Peterson, said he had not seen the records, but from what he knows of the contact between Cho and the therapist who saw him, it was an unexceptional encounter for her.
But he called for investigation of Miller's departure from the counseling center and of why Cho's records were removed from university property. "We now have ruled out that some low-level clerical person inadvertently placed them in the wrong file," Hall said. "We now find instead that the very top of the Cook Counseling Center had them."
Lucinda Roy, the Virginia Tech English professor who encouraged Cho to get counseling, said the reappearance of the records adds to concerns that the university was more concerned with preserving its reputation than with providing the public with a thorough accounting of how Cho's case was handled.
Roy said she had been in frequent contact with Miller about Cho's violent writings, flat affect and disturbing behavior. Miller "seemed to be a caring individual and responsive to problems, even though I was very disappointed that the counseling center could not have been more proactive," she said.
Because of his odd behavior, his stalking of a fellow student and his threats to kill himself, Cho was temporarily detained in a psychiatric hospital in December 2005. A judge found him to be a danger to himself and released him on condition he receive mental health counseling. That afternoon at 3 p.m., Cho showed up at the Cook Counseling Center.
The long-missing records, Owczarski said, are now on file there.
