Boston University law student who owed $20K tuition allegedly threatened students, staff

A Boston University law student was arraigned on Friday for allegedly threatening students and staff at the school.

Prosecutors said it began in January when 29-year-old Maximillien Sajous was informed by the school that he owed $20,000 in tuition. 

"He found issue with that," one of the prosecutors said in court. 

Sajous sent around 200 emails to the university, which included threats, according to court documents. BU reached out to Sajous about his mental health, but did not hear back.

Alleged threatening Instagram stories

On March 22, Sajous then allegedly posted a series of photos to Instagram Stories, which included photos of Boston University's Nickerson Field, a sharpshooter range in Virginia, and a screenshot from the movie "Boys In The Hood," directly before a drive-by shooting took place. 

Prosecutors said that Sajous also trespassed on BU properties. The school requested a wellness check at his residence in Chelsea, but Sajous was not home at the time, and police said the large pile of mail indicated he hadn't been there in a while. His neighbors explained that he kept to himself most of the time and a strong smell of marijuana came from his unit. 

"I was surprised. I recently just moved here, and we've seen our neighbors and talked to them. It's just surprising that someone next to you is a person like that," Anisha Patel said.d 

Sajous then began to email several BU officials, including Dean of Students Jason Campbell-Foster and Associate Dean Geraldine Muir, at 12:12 a.m. EST on April 23. 

Court documents show that the email read, "If you see any report that I killed myself, I most definitely did not. If you see any report that I overdosed, I most definitely did not. If you see a report that I killed anyone else, such as Gerry Muir.... Jason Campbell-Foster, ....or others, I most definitely did not." 

Boston University Police located Sajous using his cellphone, which showed he was in Hong Kong at the time. That same day, he allegedly called BU and asked to speak to Campbell-Foster, who was not available. He then asked if the dean was home or on campus. Sajous refused to leave a message or speak to anyone else, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden.

Sajous then allegedly emailed Muir with a screenshot of an apartment complex and apartment number where he believed she lived. Muir reported it to the police, saying she feared for her safety and said that Sajous had tried to contact her brother the month before. He allegedly posted another set of photos on Instagram, which included Dean Campbell-Foster with his husband and child alongside a throwing-up emoji. He also posted a Google search asking if Luigi Mangione was a hero, and an image of a target practice that was geo-tagged as Brookline, according to prosecutors. 

He also allegedly posted a criminal record for another man, Jason Campbell-Foster, with the text "Jason, you will learn to never mess with a Sajous in your life...." and tagged Boston University, "This is who ya'll hired?" 

Sajous' attorney said that there is not enough evidence to suggest that he made those posts. 

Sajous arrested

Prosecutors said that Sajous then traveled from China to Paris, France, at some point, where he asked the U.S. Embassy for help flying back to Boston because he had run out of money. He was arrested at Logan Airport after returning from Paris. 

"The level of detail in this harassment campaign is extremely disturbing," Hayden said in a statement. "We have too often seen the results when situations like this are not treated with the seriousness they deserve, and that was certainly not the case here."

He has been charged with two counts of stalking, threatening to commit a crime, making a bomb or hijack threat, and criminal harassment. He will be held until he is due back in court on May 21.

Students said that it was scary to hear that this was happening ahead of graduation weekend. They said they had seen an increase in police presence over the last few days, including bomb sniffing dogs. 

"It's unreal to some degree," one student 

"I'm maybe still just a little bit in shock about the fact that that was happening and I didn't know," another student said. 

WBZ-TV has reached out to Boston University but has not heard back.