Caller threatens to kill Cosgrove
University police investigators are searching the phone records of the Nebraska football defensive coordinator’s office line after a man left threatening messages on his answering machine, according to a search warrant filed Wednesday in Lancaster County District Court.
Defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove was the target of the messages that spurred an investigation into the phone calls, according to the warrant.
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln administrative assistant reported to police a male voice left messages on Cosgrove’s office voice mail early Nov. 4, after the blowout loss at Kansas.
The caller, according to the warrant, left messages in which he expressed anger about the Jayhawks scoring 76 points against the Cornhuskers.
In one message, he ordered Cosgrove, “Go back to where you (expletive) came from you (expletive), before I (expletive) kill ya,” according to the warrant.
According to the warrant, the coordinator reported “receiving numerous phone messages containing vulgar language in the past weeks, and upon hearing this voice message Kevin Cosgrove reported he was concerned for his safety.”
Police plan to search phone records of Cosgrove’s line, as well as the coaching staff’s line, in an attempt to locate the originating phone number or numbers of the calls, made between midnight Nov. 3 and 3 a.m. Nov. 4, the warrant states.
However, UNL police have not yet acquired those phone records, said Police Chief Owen Yardley.
Roy Baker, a 1967 UNL graduate and former head of the Lincoln Alumni Chapter, said the caller had tarnished the image of Nebraska fans.
“I find it totally disgusting,” he said. “Certainly, that’s not the image most Nebraska people, most Nebraska fans want. For that matter, it’s not the image most (fans) deserve.”
Several times this year, head coach Bill Callahan has expressed sympathy for the coaches’ families — and concern for the criticism they endure.
“We’re all human. Guys on the staff, they’re human,” he said in October. “They have families and children, and they hear things and they see things. You know, it’s not comfortable,” Callahan said. “I don’t think if your job was in the position where people were talking about you every day — it’s not a real good feeling. That’s part of being in the public eye and doing what you do … but it’s awfully tough, because they’re good men.”
Defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove was the target of the messages that spurred an investigation into the phone calls, according to the warrant.
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln administrative assistant reported to police a male voice left messages on Cosgrove’s office voice mail early Nov. 4, after the blowout loss at Kansas.
The caller, according to the warrant, left messages in which he expressed anger about the Jayhawks scoring 76 points against the Cornhuskers.
In one message, he ordered Cosgrove, “Go back to where you (expletive) came from you (expletive), before I (expletive) kill ya,” according to the warrant.
According to the warrant, the coordinator reported “receiving numerous phone messages containing vulgar language in the past weeks, and upon hearing this voice message Kevin Cosgrove reported he was concerned for his safety.”
Police plan to search phone records of Cosgrove’s line, as well as the coaching staff’s line, in an attempt to locate the originating phone number or numbers of the calls, made between midnight Nov. 3 and 3 a.m. Nov. 4, the warrant states.
However, UNL police have not yet acquired those phone records, said Police Chief Owen Yardley.
Roy Baker, a 1967 UNL graduate and former head of the Lincoln Alumni Chapter, said the caller had tarnished the image of Nebraska fans.
“I find it totally disgusting,” he said. “Certainly, that’s not the image most Nebraska people, most Nebraska fans want. For that matter, it’s not the image most (fans) deserve.”
Several times this year, head coach Bill Callahan has expressed sympathy for the coaches’ families — and concern for the criticism they endure.
“We’re all human. Guys on the staff, they’re human,” he said in October. “They have families and children, and they hear things and they see things. You know, it’s not comfortable,” Callahan said. “I don’t think if your job was in the position where people were talking about you every day — it’s not a real good feeling. That’s part of being in the public eye and doing what you do … but it’s awfully tough, because they’re good men.”
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