From Phiily.com: a close look at the lives of the eight students offers few hints of the selfishness and stupidity that is depicted in the grand jury report.
Young, the president of Beta Theta Pi chapter and a Malvern resident, describes himself on LinkedIn as a junior who is majoring in enterprise risk management and finance.According to the account, he is going to be a summer intern at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in an operations analyst development program, and briefly served as a member of a Navy ROTC program in State College. On Twitter, his biographical information is limited to one line: “It pays to be a winner.”
Reached by phone on Friday, Young’s mother declined to comment.
Casey, the fraternity’s pledge master, is from Ronkonkoma, a hamlet on Long Island. He graduated from Connetquot High School in 2015. His family didn’t respond to a voice message, and his Facebook account — which featured a sweeping photo from inside the iconic Beaver Stadium — was deleted hours after the criminal charges were filed.
DiBileo is the namesake son of a prominent Penn State graduate, Lackawanna County Controller Gary DiBileo Sr., a successful Scranton businessman for nearly 30 years.
The grand jury presentment showed Young once hassled DiBileo through a series of text messages, after DiBileo threatened to drop out as a fraternity pledge in September 2016. “Bad idea,” Young wrote. “Talk to me in the morning. … Alcohol creates blurry lines.”
DiBileo Sr. could not be reached for comment.
Visser, of Encinitas, Calif., describes himself on Facebook as a 2016 graduate of La Costa Canyon High School and a valet at Park Hyatt Aviara Resort. His account features a photograph of a young, blond man — presumably Visser — with his arms around the waists of two women who appear to be cheerleaders for the University of California, Los Angeles. A comment beneath the photo reads: “Visser is a … stud.”
Kubera graduated from high school in Downingtown last year. In December, he posted an Instagram photo from Beta Theta Pi with 29 young men and the caption “29 degenerates.” Facebook photos from last year show Kubera standing on a roof deck with the Philadelphia skyline behind him. His family declined to comment Friday.
Neuman, a Nashville native, graduated in 2015 from Battle Ground Academy, a private college prep school. He is an intramural wrestler at Penn State, and was a medalist in a state wrestling championship while in high school in 2014.
Sala, reached by phone in his Erie home, said he had no comment, citing the “ongoing investigation.” Relatives of Bonatucci’s, a native of Woodstock, Ga., could not be reached for comment.
PSU Beta Theta Pi members charged in Tim Piazza’s death: Brendan Young, Daniel Casey, Gary DiBileo, Luke Visser, Nick Kubera, Jonah Neuman, Joe Sala, and Michael Bonatucci.
Timeline into death of PSU Beta Theta Pi pledge Tim Piazza: See all mentions of wrestler Jonah Neuman as another brother asks urgently for 911 intervention (Source PSU Collegian)
8:56 p.m.: Pledges filed into Beta Theta Pi’s great hall, which had the lights turned off. Three brothers — Pledge Master Daniel Casey, Chapter President Brendan Young and Ryan Burke — can be identified by a light source in the front of the room.
9:06 p.m.: Burke leads the pledges out of the great hall.
9:16 p.m.: Beta Theta Pi brothers send the first pledge through “the gauntlet,” a drinking-based obstacle course utilized in BTP’s hazing ritual.
9:21 p.m.: Timothy Piazza enters the gauntlet — Casey hands Piazza a handle of vodka, from which Piazza drinks heavily. Eight seconds later, Nicholas Kubera hands Piazza a beer, which Piazza shotguns.
10:31 p.m.: Pledges emerge from Beta Theta Pi’s basement and are visibly intoxicated.
10:40 p.m.: Beta Theta Pi brother Lars Kenyon assists Piazza, who was staggering and hunched over, to a couch in the great hall.
10:43 p.m.: Kubera encourages Piazza to stand up, and assists him in walking through the dining room and kitchen before returning to the living room. Piazza is visibly intoxicated during this endeavor.
10:45 p.m.: Piazza stands up, unassisted, and staggers toward the front door, which he fails to open. Piazza heads toward the basement steps, passing Jerry Coyne and Luke Visser on the way.
Time Unknown: Timothy Piazza falls down the basement steps. Cameras located in basement did not record on night in question, according to court documents.
10:47 p.m.: Piazza is carried back up the steps by Ryan Burke, Luke Visser, Greg Rizzo and Jonah Neuman. Piazza is limp and has a visible bruise on his abdomen. The brothers place Piazza on a couch. When Rizzo attempts to administer a sternum rub to Piazza, Piazza is unresponsive.
10:49 p.m.: Rizzo dumps liquid on Piazza’s face. Piazza does not respond. Following this Burke lifts Piazza’s arm, which immediately falls back to Piazza’s chest.
10:55 p.m.: Jonah Neuman retrieves a backpack, which he attaches to Piazza at 10:56 p.m.
11 p.m.: BTP brother Ryan Foster sits himself at Piazza’s feet in order to prevent Piazza from rolling over.
11:12 p.m.: Neuman also sits on Piazza’s legs to prevent him from moving.
11:14 p.m.: Kordel Davis, a newly initiated brother to Beta Theta Pi as of December 2016, enters the great hall. Davis approaches Piazza, leans over him and then turns to the other brothers in an animated fashion, pointing to his head and then to Piazza. When he testified, Davis told jurors he told the other brothers that Piazza needed to be taken to the hospital. Davis told jurors he screamed at the brothers, telling them they needed to get help.
11:15 p.m.: Neuman shoves Davis into a wall and tells him things are under control.
11:15 p.m.: Davis reiterates his concerns to Ed Gilmartin, the chapter’s vice president. In response, Gilmartin says Davis is crazy, claiming the other brothers have majors in kinesiology and biology.
11:25 p.m.: Daniel Casey, the pledge master, reenters the great hall to check on Timothy Piazza — he slaps Piazza three times in the face.
11:53 p.m.: Rizzo sends the following GroupMe message: “Also Tim Piazza might actually be a problem. He fell 15 feet down a flight of steps, hair-first, going to need help.”
Jim Piazza, father of Tim Piazza, speaks during the announcement of charges in his son’s death at the Centre County Courthouse Annex on Friday, May 5, 2017.
Linsey Fagan
Feb. 3, 2017
1 a.m.: Brothers in the room observe Piazza vomit and twitch on the couch. Piazza is surrounded by Ryan Foster, Jerry Coyne and Joseph Ems, who “backpack” Piazza to prevent him from rolling onto his back if he passes out.
1:48 a.m.: Piazza rolls onto the floor. Ems, Foster and Matt Reinmund pick Piazza back up and slam him onto the couch.1:50 a.m.: Ems strikes Piazza’s abdomen.
3:22 a.m.: Piazza attempts to regain his feet, and Coyne is nearby. Piazza falls backward and strikes his head on the hardwood floor — Coyne shakes him for movement, and then leaves the room.
3:54 a.m.: Piazza attempts to stand up again, but falls face first onto the floor.
4:59 a.m.: Piazza stands and staggers toward the lobby. Seconds later, he falls into an iron railing. He gets up again and attempts to go to the front door, but falls head first into the door.
5:08 a.m.: Piazza rests on his knees with his head buried in his hands. Then, he rolls to his side and clutches his abdomen.
5:15 a.m.: Beta Theta Pi brother Jonathan Martines walks downstairs for a drink of water, stepping over Piazza.
5:26 a.m.: Another BTP brother, Frederick Steimling, comes downstairs for water. He observes Piazza, and then walks Piazza to the great hall. Piazza falls down three steps. Steimling steps over Piazza and leaves him on the floor. Eventually Piazza makes it into the great hall.
6:44 a.m.: Beta Theta Pi pledge Qobi Quainoo enters the great hall — Piazza is on the floor.
6:57 a.m.: Quainoo uses SnapChat to film Piazza.
7:18 a.m.: Piazza stands up again and staggers toward the basement steps.
Approximately 10 a.m.: Daniel Erickson and Kyle Pecci search for Piazza — eventually, Erickson discovers him behind a bar. Erickson, Pecci and another brother then carry Piazza upstairs and place him on a couch in the great hall. Following this, brothers shook an unconscious Piazza. The brothers also covered Piazza with a blanket, wiped his face and attempted to dress him.
10:48 a.m.: Beta Theta Pi brother Ryan McCann dials 911. McCann never tells the dispatcher that Piazza fell down the stairs the previous night.
Feb. 4, 2017
1:23 a.m.: Timothy Piazza is pronounced dead at the Hershey Medical Center.
The timeline from life to death is disturbing. The Beta Theta Pi “Men of Principle” program is one I have believed in and endorsed. NOT calling 911 for a pledge with a head injury is absolutely wrong and shameful.
