A Purdue grad student’s fixation on his professors spiraled into disturbing behavior, leading to stalking charges and potential ties to mental health issues.
At a glance:
- Purdue grad student Xiaojia Zhou, 44, is expected to face stalking charges after allegedly targeting two professors, whom he blamed for a recent failed test.
- Zhou allegedly watched the professors from behind their home and made alarming statements about insulin and ether to his landlord, raising concerns about his mental state.
- Zhou is currently incarcerated, and his case highlights another instance of mental health concerns among Purdue students, following a 2022 on-campus murder linked to a mental breakdown.
West Lafayette, Indiana — Xiaojia Zhou, a 44-year-old graduate student at Purdue University, is expected to be charged with stalking two of his political science professors after blaming them for his academic failures. According to a probable cause affidavit, Zhou’s behavior escalated after a failed test, which he claimed had ruined his life.
Zhou, a Chinese citizen, allegedly rode his bicycle to a rural area near his professors’ home and watched them from a marshy area while being bitten by mosquitoes. The professors, who reportedly had no personal issues with Zhou, were alarmed to discover that they were being stalked.
In addition to stalking, Zhou made unsettling comments to his landlord, asking about undetectable methods of killing, such as injecting insulin. He also inquired about using ether from car stores as an anesthetic, raising red flags about his mental stability.
Zhou’s behavior became increasingly erratic, as described in the affidavit. His landlord once found him sitting naked on the porch of their apartment, and Zhou had purchased a handgun—though he later discovered it was the wrong caliber. After being admitted to a mental health facility, Zhou asked his landlord to keep the gun safe. When Zhou was released, he sought to retrieve the weapon, only to find that it had been surrendered to police.
Further troubling behavior includes an incident in which Zhou allegedly cut a woman’s hair while sitting behind her in church. Despite these incidents, Zhou remains enrolled in Purdue’s political science graduate program, though university officials have labeled him “persona non grata” pending further investigation.
This case is the second high-profile incident at Purdue involving students exhibiting signs of mental health breakdowns. In October 2022, Ji Min Sha, a Korean undergraduate, killed his roommate, Varun Manish Chheda, in their dorm room. Sha, who believed he was a CIA operative, was later found incompetent to stand trial and is currently being treated at a state hospital.
The university continues to monitor Zhou’s case as prosecutors prepare to file formal charges.
