Fraternities, students charged in death
Police allege freshman was furnished alcohol by upperclassmenFrom Mirror staff and wire reports
Two Penn State fraternities and two students were charged Thursday in connection with the investigation into the death of student Joseph Dado in September, State College and Penn State University police said.
Joseph Dado, 18, of Latrobe, a Penn State freshman, was found dead Sept. 21 at the bottom of an exterior stairwell between two campus buildings. Dado's blood-alcohol level was 0.169 percent, police said.
"Based on the information and evidence discovered during this investigation, both police agencies have concluded that excessive consumption of alcohol played a major role in this tragic accident," police said.
Alpha Tau Omega and Phi Gamma Delta fraternities, both on North Burrowes Road, are charged with one count each of selling or furnishing alcohol to minors and unlawful acts relative to alcohol.
Facing the same charges are Jennifer Clifford, 21, of Gibsonia, who authorities said bought vodka for Dado and Clifford's underage sister earlier in the weekend; and John Townsend, 21, of Latrobe, who authorities said hosted Dado and his friends in his room at the Phi Gamma Delta house.
Townsend and Dado were friends from home and had attended the same high school.
Dado's father, Joseph Dado Sr., declined to comment.
Authorities laid out this timeline in charging documents:
Clifford bought vodka for Dado Sept. 18. Dado and several underage friends were drinking vodka at Dado's dorm room early the night of Sept. 19.
The group left Dado's room and arrived at Alpha Tau Omega after midnight Sept. 20. They left about an hour later, stopping at the apartment of Dado's sister before arriving at Phi Gamma Delta.
Dado's three friends left about an hour later, leaving Dado behind after Dado had texted them that he was staying longer.
The friends realized the next morning that Dado had not returned home and called Townsend, who told them the freshman had left the fraternity about 3:30 a.m. Sept. 20. According to police, Dado refused an offer from Townsend to stay at the house.
Authorities searched the campus and surrounding neighborhood before maintenance workers found Dado's body the following afternoon. Dado died of head trauma, Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers ruled.
The fraternities referred calls to their respective national organizations. Wynn Smiley, CEO of the Indianapolis-based Alpha Tau Omega national organization, said he hadn't seen the charges.
''We are certainly investigating. We don't believe any of our members did anything wrong at this point,'' Smiley said.
Bill Martin, executive director of the Phi Gamma Delta national organization in Lexington, Ky., said his office had seen a news release but not the charges and declined to comment on the local chapter's behalf.
In a statement, Townsend's attorney, Andrew Shubin, said Townsend was ''enormously saddened by what happened ... and wishes he had done things differently that night.''
Shubin said the last month has been the ''toughest and saddest period of [Townsend's] life ... and believes deeply that this incident should be an important teaching moment for the rest of the Penn State community.''
Clifford could not immediately be reached for comment.
Representatives of the fraternities and Clifford and Townsend have been ordered to appear for preliminary hearings scheduled for Dec. 2.
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mocus1
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11-09-09 10:22 PM
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brutis, despite the waiver the water drinker signed, the radio station was still required to pay out a healthy sum to her family. I guess waivers are just a piece of paper, with no real meaning. The clever liars known as lawyers always make sure the blame falls on the entity with the most $$$. Idiots with no $$$ are never held responsible for anything they do, are they?
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brutis
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10-31-09 12:30 AM
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If compelled, please read the stroy of Bethany Norwood. You can nGoggle her name and the article to focus on is written by Texas National press. The purpose is to show that thus far, no lawsuits have yet to filed some 3 years later. I did read a few articles ( about the water story), and took notice of the lawyers language "Connectice culpability"... How clever. How ingeniously evil, clever.
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brutis
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10-31-09 12:16 AM
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PITDAN, said it accuratley. And this next incident does not reflect personal responsibility: Remember a few years ago, a woman whom after signing a health release, and being given a verbal warning, died from accute water intoxication. The story: CBS News station KOVR-TV reports that during the contest, a listener - self-identified as a nurse - called the live radio broadcast and warned that the game was dangerous. "I want to say that those people drinking all that water can get sick and die from water intoxication," said the caller. "Yeah, we're aware of that," replied a DJ, according to the broadcast news report. "They signed releases so we're not responsible, okay?" Donnie Logsdon – one of the 18 contestants trying to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console by drinking the most water without going to the bathroom – tells KOVR-TV news that they didn't hear that on-air warning in the room where he and the others were filling up way beyond comfort.
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brutis
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10-31-09 12:15 AM
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CONTINUED: During the contest, participants were given two minutes to drink an 8-ounce bottle of water and then given another bottle to drink after a 10-minute break. Maybe she would have walked away," says Logsdon. "But we didn't hear that inside there." Strange was second to last to stop drinking, and when she bowed out, she did say on the air that she was not feeling well. In all, according to witness reports, Strange may have drunk nearly two gallons. Afterward, she appeared ill when she went on the air, one contestant said. After the contest, Strange called in sick to work, crying and saying she was heading home in terrible pain. About five hours later, Strange – who had three children - was found dead by her mother at her home in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova. Her parents SUED, and today were awarded 16 MILLION DOLLARS. The day after the contest 16 people were fired from their jobs. Now, where is justice? There is none. NONE!!
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brutis
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10-30-09 11:52 PM
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How many of us here, bought a case of beer to a party? Or helped haul in a keg of beer? And there were some 17-19 year olds present and drinking? I have. Oddly the one night I did not bring any beer, 3 friend's, whom I drove to the party with, yet decided to stay later, & declined a ride home, died 15 minutes after they left the party. I did have some "smoke", which I shared with many. Including my friends. Am I responsible? I do not see the connection. Nor do I believe these students should be charged. It's what kids do. It's what I and others here did. It's a rite of passage in our young, immature lives. This will permanently ruin there professional and personal lives forever. Where is the justice in this? There is none. Another notch in the police, prosecutor's, and Counties purse. Another story to follow:
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SP4200
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10-30-09 5:25 PM
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42Employlaw1981 fyi .16 is double the legal limit. An adult who drinks regularly this will make their actions slow, sluggish and uncooridinated. For a kid that is 18, just entered college, and probably not a seasoned drinker yet this toxicity will make him falling down drunk. So there doesn't need to be anything else in his system for this much alcohol render him incapable of even the simplest task.
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cjn8091
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10-30-09 4:10 PM
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No freakin' fair, pittdan... You've ended this thread convincingly! Well done... ;-)
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pittdan7
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10-30-09 2:59 PM
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"You can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the actions of a few sick, perverted individuals. For if you do, then you have to blame the entire fraternity system. And if the entire fraternity system is guilty, then is this not an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg! Is this not an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do what you want to us - but I am not going to stand here and listen to you bad-mouth the United States of America!"
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cjn8091
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10-30-09 2:50 PM
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The adults charged in this case are NOT being blamed or prosecuted for what happened to Mr. Dado - they are facing charges related to THEIR OWN actions, which (it is alleged) were unlawful, and would have been regardless of Mr. Dado's tragic demise. You can scoff if you want, but "buying their friends some booze" is illegal if the friends are underage... At the same time, I would not support any sort of civil litigation or action against them for money damages or wrongful death or the like, but they need to be held accountable for any criminal behavior they undertook...
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42Employlaw1981
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10-30-09 1:18 PM
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ALWAYSRITE: While I normally take the Plaintiff's position, in this instance, I agree with you that the decedent should be responsible. No gun was placed to his head. Tragic, but lets not pass the blame.
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jigglybones
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10-30-09 1:17 PM
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Why are cops such d@cks sometimes? Enough with the prosecution of the young students. They bought their friends some booze. I'd venture to guess many of the readers here, when they were young, have either had someone buy them booze, or have done it for someone... Personal responsibility is a mutha f#ck@r.
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alwaysriteifuaskme
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10-30-09 1:14 PM
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Eveyone from pittdan on up has the right idea. At 18 you are concidered an adult. It comes down to personal accountability and personal responsibility. I suppose we should blame the fraternities the next time someone decides to sleep in with a hangover instead of getting up and going to class. Its the choice of the individual.
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42Employlaw1981
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10-30-09 12:52 PM
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First, this is a tragic accident and I feel sorry for the family. Second, this type of thing happens all the time and I doubt the parties involved thought anything like this would happen. Third, if your filing charges against everyone under the sun, why not add the University. Didn't he begin drinking in the dorms? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't drink alcohol in the dorms, especially if you're underage? Aren't they as culpable as the Fraternities? Fourth, the decedent had a blood alcohol level of .16 which is twice the legal limit. While I'm sure he was certainly "feeling it," I wonder if any other substance was involved. I bet 60% of Beaver stadium on a Saturday has a BAC over .16 and function just fine. Doesn't pass the smell test.
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Happy77
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10-30-09 12:37 PM
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This is a tragedy, but I agreed that Dado is responsible for making the choice to consume the alcohol. I don't understand why the finger is always pointed to someone else for the blame. Maybe Penn state is to blame for a having a building with a stairwell that would allow someone to fall, maybe the kids sneakers were to blame for allowing him to slip? Mother nature could be the blame if it rainted that night....you could go on forever.
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ferndawg44
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10-30-09 12:21 PM
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Although a very sad story I recall my collegiate days at IUP and this also occured. The Frat house's are being held responsible?? Why not sue the VODKA company. A real stretch if you ask me.....
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DemoDerbyAce
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10-30-09 10:59 AM
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Well, Penn State is the No.1 party school.
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countrygirl
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10-30-09 10:23 AM
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Maybe it's just me, but I feel like if I went out and made a choice to drink and then died as a result of it, I wouldn't want anyone else to be held responsible. (Even if I was legally underage and someone else supplied it...it wouldn't be like they forced it down my throat.)
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pittdan7
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10-30-09 9:28 AM
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So much for personal responsibility.
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nospinhere
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10-30-09 8:20 AM
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I can only conclude that they must have consulted with the Tyrone Police Dept. The investigative work in this area is really stepping up lately. Maybe they are all watching Forensic Files....
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Aces20
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10-30-09 7:45 AM
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Penn State admin has to secretly be pleased with this. For this could lead to the university claiming the fraternity properties.
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mocus1
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10-30-09 12:55 AM
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This expert police work compares to the story just a few days ago. In that case, police concluded that, "after drinking vodka, one can exhibit the symptoms of alcohol intoxication." Those are intellectual skills that are rarely seen these days. Surely only Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan, Mannix, Cannon, Barnaby Jones or Ironsides could posess such deductive reasoning skills as these genuises.
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mocus1
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10-30-09 12:52 AM
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O X Y C O N T I N
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mocus1
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10-30-09 12:51 AM
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If Dado had only purchased some *********from the Weimer sisters of Conemaugh, he would have passed out at the frat house. Then he wouldn't have been able to walk home and get killed. Well, that's the last time Jennifer Clifford buys vodka for anybody. See, no good deed goes unpunished Jenn.
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mocus1
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10-30-09 12:46 AM
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"both police agencies have concluded that excessive consumption of alcohol played a major role in this tragic accident," police said. Wow, with that kind of crack investigative squad on the job, how could anything be missed? Alcohol, the cause of, and the solution to, all of life's problems.
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