More charges in Tim Piazza hazing death at Penn State fraternity

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania - Newly uncovered surveillance video from the basement of Beta Theta Pi shows that on the night of Timothy J. Piazza's hazing death, fraternity brothers gave the Hunterdon Central High School graduate 18 drinks in 1 hour and 22 minutes.

The footage has led Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller to announce on Monday additional criminal charges against members of Beta Theta Pi fraternity after the investigation of the deleted surveillance video Feb. 2, when Piazza, as a new pledge, participated in a hazing ritual.

Twelve more Beta Theta Pi members have been charged, with five facing manslaughter charges. At least two dozen people now face charges in the case.

READ: The shocking final hours of Timothy Piazza's life

READ Prosecutors reinstating charges in Timothy Piazza's Penn State death

READ: Lawyer: Penn State frat head unaware Piazza was in danger

READ: Piazza family says death of son was 'murder'

At an emotional press conference Monday afternoon, Jim Piazza, Tim's father, said the uncovered footage sheds fresh light on the events that resulted in his son's death.

"Now we know," he said, his voice often breaking as he read a prepared statement. "Justice needs to be done."

Not only does Penn State need to take a tougher stand against hazing and drinking, the father said, but the fraternity members, who said that they did not know what happened that evening, should "man up."

Piazza said the fraternity members should have known the consequences of the hazing ritual.

"Did no one pay attention in high school health class?" he asked.

With his wife by his side, Piazza said this will be the first holiday season the family has spent without their son.

New charge

One defendant, a fraternity member, is accused of deleting the video as police were seeking the footage in February.

Piazza, a 19-year-old engineering student from Readington, suffered a fractured skull, shattered spleen and other injuries following the hazing at the fraternity. His blood-alcohol content was estimated at several times the legal limit for adult drivers.

The house’s security system captured many of the events the night Piazza was injured, footage that had already been played at a preliminary hearing for those previously charged. But until recently, that did not include the basement, where Piazza was found the next morning.

When authorities initially examined the video footage, fraternity brothers led police to believe that the basement cameras had not been working that night, when new pledges were going through a hazing ritual.

However, after later examining one of the DVR surveillance boxes, State College police uncovered evidence that the basement camera footage had been manually deleted, just as State College police were poised to take possession of the recording equipment.

State College police sent the box to the FBI, whose agents were able to restore the video from the deleted hard drive.

The basement video clearly depicts a continuation of the hazing activity previously captured upstairs during the gauntlet, Miller said.

The video captures brothers giving beer to the pledges at the beer pong gauntlet station and immediately handing them beers to perform another shotgun together as a pledge class.

“In fact, on video, Tim Piazza does not obtain his own alcohol at any point — rather, every drink consumed was provided to him by a fraternity brother,” Miller said.

As they returned to the first floor, the pledges appeared to show signs of intoxication, and Piazza had to be helped to a couch, according to the grand jury and witness testimony during the lengthy preliminary hearing.

Piazza subsequently stumbled toward the basement steps, then fell down them.

Over the rest of that evening, fraternity members were recorded pouring liquid on him, strapping a loaded backpack to him and taking other ineffective or counterproductive steps to deal with his condition.

The video showed Piazza stumbling around in the dark at several points, then disappearing from view.

After someone noticed his shoes were on the first floor the next morning, fraternity members found Piazza, unconscious, in the basement.

They carried him upstairs, but it was another 40 minutes before an ambulance was called.

The new defendants in the case are:

Joshua Kurczewski — involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangering another person, 10 counts of hazing, eight counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and eight counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Ryan Burke — involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangering another person, four counts of hazing, four counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and four counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Jonathan Kanzler — involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangering another person. two counts of hazing, two counts of furnishing alcohol to minors, two counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor and one count of consumption of alcohol by a minor.

Bohan Song — involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangering another person, three counts of hazing, three counts of furnishing alcohol to minors, three counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor and one count of consumption of alcohol by a minor.

Aiden O’Brien — involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangering another person, hazing, furnishing alcohol to minors, unlawful acts relative to liquor and consumption of alcohol by a minor..

Joseph Ems — hazing, furnishing alcohol to minors, unlawful acts relative to liquor and consumption of alcohol by a minor.

Brian Gelb — six counts of hazing, five counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and five counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor

Patrick Jackson — two counts of hazing, two counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and two counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Reggie Goeke — hazing, furnishing alcohol to minors and unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Mike Fernandez — two counts of hazing, two counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and two counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Donald Prior — four counts of hazing, three counts furnishing alcohol to minors and three counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Braxton Becker — tampering with evidence, obstructing administration of law and hindering apprehension.

The following Beta Theta Pi members, who have already been charged, are facing new charges:

Luke Visser — 11 counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and 11 counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Gary Dibilio — five counts counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and five counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Nick Kubera — two counts counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and two counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Michael Bonatucci — two counts counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and two counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Parker Yochim — one count of furnishing alcohol to minors and one count of unlawful acts relative to liquor and one count of consumption of alcohol by a minor.

Contributing: Associated Press

Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com