Categories
Hazing News

Sorority bystanders at Piazza’s death–their role is questioned by Luke Visser lawyer.

PSU Collegian link

excerpt

BELLEFONTE — While 18 former Beta Theta Pi fraternity members face charges for their alleged roles in the death of Timothy Piazza, at least one defense lawyer is raising a different question: “Where are Trilogy girls in this courtroom?”

Video footage from the night of Piazza’s bid acceptance show that members of Trilogy — a female organization, which lead detective David Scicchitano described as a “defunct sorority” — were also present when the late Penn State sophomore suffered a fatal fall.

Ted Simon, attorney for Luke Visser, asked Scicchitano if he was aware of any of the Trilogy members bringing alcohol to the fraternity house that night — alcohol that Piazza may have consumed during the social.

Visser, a freshman, is facing eight charges including involuntary manslaughter. According to court documents, Visser worked a drinking station in the “gauntlet” hazing ritual where Piazza consumed alcohol on Feb. 2.

Scicchitano said there was no evidence indicating that the females brought any alcohol to the residence.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024, the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

Leave a Reply