Colorado State: Sigma Pi (woman found dead at house)

[LXAAlum]

From the Rocky Mountain News


Woman found dead at CSU frat
By Julie Poppen, Rocky Mountain News
September 6, 2004

FORT COLLINS - A college-age woman was found dead in a rarely used storage room on the second floor of the Sigma Pi fraternity house Sunday evening, sparking a police investigation and shock among members of the fraternity at Colorado State University.

Fort Collins police said the woman was fully clothed and there were no obvious signs of trauma to her body or of foul play.

Fort Collins police officer Gary Shaklee said there were no obvious signs of drug or alcohol use near the body, either, but police are calling the death suspicious.

Shaklee said a fraternity member who doesn't live in the house found the body about 6:20 p.m. in the room, which has a few couches in it.

Police believe the woman had been dead at least 12 hours, making it likely that she had been in the house since the previous evening.

No house party was held at the house Saturday night because many of the fraternity members attended the University of Colorado-CSU game in Boulder or gathered with friends to watch it, Shaklee said.

At 8:30 p.m., police were still waiting for a search warrant, but already had sealed off the room, in the rear of the red brick, colonial-style building with white columns. Fraternity members allowed police to begin examining the scene before they received the warrant, Shaklee said.

Less than three hours after the body was found, three young women, visibly shaking and crying, sought information from police about their roommate. She was missing, they said, and was last seen at the Sigma Pi house Saturday night. They said the woman is a CSU student but not a member of a sorority.

Police said they have a good idea about the woman's identity but had not yet confirmed it.

Link is Here

[DigitalAngel126]

That's crazy!

[Tom Earp]

This is to sad to hear about.

This will put a pall upon the Sigma Pi Chapter there.

One can only hope that with a full investigation , there will be no wrong doing on the part of the Chapter.

Of course, I am sure there will be repercusions from the Local Population, The School, and the Hdq.

[exlurker]

According to an ABC affiliate in Denver, the dead woman has been identified as Samantha Spady, age 19, of Beatrice, Nebraska.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...11/detail.html

Very sad news; my deepest sympathy to her family and friends.

[DeltAlum]

According to my old station here in Denver, she was Class President and Homecoming Queen at her high school in Nebraska.

Friends say it wouldn't be like her to drink that much -- but Ft. Collins and Colorado State authorities seem to be leaning toward alcohol -- although pointing out that final toxicoligy results won't be available for some time. She was apparantely not a member of a sorority.

CSU Greeks had to face a suicide at our chapter last year when one of our brothers shot himself.

Tough times.

[PSUSigKap]

i live in fort collins and my sister is a csu student. it's hitting everyone pretty hard. both greeks and non-greeks alike. if anyone has any questions feel free to pm me.

[mmcat]

how sad for all concerned.
thoughts and prayers are with all.

[Kevin]

Damn. this is never a good thing to hear about. I feel very sad for her parents and sisters that have to deal with us.

The men at the Sigma Chi house have to be very on edge right now as if this turns out to be due to their negligence, they will almost certainly lose their chapter (which would be highly deserved if they had caused this).

[TN-TX ADPi]

ktsnake- It was the Sigma Pi house, not Sigma Chi.

This is such a tragic thing. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends, the Sigma Pi chapter, and the campus.

[LXAAlum]

From the Rocky Mountain News:

Link

CSU frat house tragedy
Female student had blood-alcohol level 5 times legal limit

By Sarah Langbein and Ann Carnahan, Rocky Mountain News
September 7, 2004

FORT COLLINS - A Colorado State University student found dead at a fraternity house had a blood-alcohol concentration more than five times the legal limit for drivers in Colorado, a police source said Monday.

Samantha Spady, 19, a sophomore business major from Nebraska, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.43 percent, the source said.

A Sigma Pi fraternity brother giving his mom a tour of the house at 709 Wagner Drive on Sunday found Spady fully clothed on the floor of a second-story lounge.

Police believe she may have been dead for 12 hours before authorities were called.

There were no signs of trauma to her body, and she was not sexually assaulted, police said.

The high school homecoming queen, class president and cheerleader moved from Beatrice, Neb., to Fort Collins nearly a year ago on the advice of friends.

Adam Tatro, 23, and Chase Bruhn, 22, friends from high school who attended the University of Northern Colorado, suggested to Spady she attend college in Colorado, they said Monday.

"We told Sam this was a great place - get away from all of the crap in Beatrice," Bruhn said. "She thought it was a great place."

The men described her as a bright young woman - innocent and sweet.

"She was a friend who definitely had more to offer," Tatro said. "It's a disappointment."

Bruhn last spoke to Spady on Thursday or Friday through an instant message conversation on the Internet. Bruhn asked her about weekend plans.

"She was going to hang out," he said. "There were some parties."

Police are looking into the possibility that Spady and a friend were involved in a single-car accident during the weekend on Harmony Road. Officials believe that Spady was drunk at the time, abandoned her car and called a member of Sigma Pi for a ride.

It's unclear whether Spady continued to drink at the fraternity house, just west of campus, before she was escorted to the sofa-filled lounge to sleep off the alcohol, police said.

People occasionally checked in on Spady, saying that she was unresponsive, but they thought she was passed out.

After the discovery of Spady's death, Sigma Pi brothers were asked to leave the two-story, brick house for the night, and the flag was flown at half- staff.

"This is something a lot of us haven't dealt with before, a close personal friend dying," said Darren Pettapiece, president of the Sigma Pi chapter at CSU. "We're a close group of friends who will be there for each other no matter what."

Spady's four roommates at their home near campus declined to speak about their friend.

Members of Chi Omega sorority, which Spady had resigned from, wore blue ribbons.

"The university counseling center is making these (ribbons) and distributing them around campus," said Lindsay Sharp, president of Chi Omega chapter. "They were passing them out in light of this, just a bad thing for the Greek community in general. We're all just pulling together."

CSU sent counselors to speak with students and their families.

Tatro and Bruhn drove from Greeley to the fraternity house Monday, looking for answers.

They wanted to know how this happened and why no one took Spady to the hospital.

There has to be more to the story, they said.

"This just doesn't seem like her at all," Tatro said. "Sam, she was a smart girl. If you knew her at all through high school, she wasn't getting in trouble. She wasn't out doing stupid things. She was an all- around nice girl. This was out of character."

Bruhn added, "She was the one who knew when to go home when she knew she'd had too much (to drink)."

The men were upset by brief laughter coming from members of the fraternity, who had been somber for most of the day. "It's disturbing," Tatro said. "They seem to be having a good time. Someone died in their house."

[moe.ron]

People need to look out for each other. I'll be honest, looking back, there days I wonder how the hell did I survive my first two years of college. People need to use common sense.

Originally posted by LXAAlum
The men were upset by brief laughter coming from members of the fraternity, who had been somber for most of the day. "It's disturbing," Tatro said. "They seem to be having a good time. Someone died in their house."

Oh, come on. Seriously. They're going through hell, and that "brief moment of laughter" probably kept them from going crazy.

[OleMissGlitter]

That is so sad. I will pray for her family and the Sigma Pi's...

[navane]

This article has some different information. For once it sounds like no one is jumping to the conclusion that the fraternity *must* have been somehow responsible for her death. If anything, this article makes Sigma Pi sound like they were doing the right thing by possibly picking her up when she was too drunk to drive and checking on her occassionally.


It's so sad that a girl with a promising future had to die due to alcohol.


.....Kelly


--------------------


Student Found Dead At Colorado Fraternity House
Report: Student's Blood Alcohol Was 5 Times Over Legal Limit

POSTED: 10:31 am EDT September 7, 2004
UPDATED: 2:25 pm EDT September 7, 2004
A college student from Nebraska was found dead over the weekend at a fraternity house in Colorado.

Authorities say alcohol likely played a role in the death of the Colorado State University student.

Published reports state Samantha Spady's blood-alcohol level was 0.43 percent, more than five times the legal limit for driving in Colorado.

Her body was found in an unused room at the Sigma Pi fraternity house on Sunday. Autopsy results show no signs of physical trauma, but that alcohol contributed to the 19-year-old's death. Spady was not sexually assaulted, and foul play was not suspected, police said. Toxicology tests were also planned but those results won't be known for 10 days.

Police were reportedly investigating whether Spady and a friend were involved in a one-car accident over the weekend. Officials believe that Spady was drunk at the time, abandoned her car and called a member of Sigma Pi for a ride.

It's not clear whether Spady drank at the fraternity house on Saturday night, but police believe members of the fraternity occasionally checked on her and thought she had passed out.

Fraternity president Darren Pettapiece said there was no party at the house that night -- the night of the big in-state football rivalry with the University of Colorado -- and no one he had spoken with had admitted drinking with Spady. Members of the fraternity are trying to deal with the tragic events.

Pettapiece said the fraternity members have always been responsible when it comes to alcohol abuse and risk management.

The Greek community on the CSU campus banned all parties involving alcohol at fraternity and sorority houses. Parties with alcohol are allowed only in third-party locations, such as bars or hotels, and guest lists must be submitted to the Greek Life office, according to a school official.

A fraternity member was giving his mother a house tour when they found Spady's fully-clothed body in an empty sofa-filled lounge on the second floor. Witnesses said that there was no vomit near her body and no drug and alcohol paraphernalia around her.

CSU officials are waiting for Fort Collins, Colo., police to complete their investigation before deciding what action to take.

Police estimated that Spady died Sunday morning so she may have been in the empty room about 12 hours before they were called.

Spady's friends in Nebraska said they were shocked about her mysterious death. The college sophomore was an honor student, head varsity cheerleader, homecoming queen, and senior class president before graduating from Beatrice High School in Beatrice, Neb., in 2003.

Family friend Nile Dragoo called Spady "bubbly, refreshing, a breath of fresh air," who would light up a room as soon as she walked in.

Her family and friends are suspicious of the circumstances surrounding her death and say it's unlike her to binge drink and go into a frat house by herself.

"This just doesn't seem like her at all," said Adam Tatro, a friend from high school. "Sam, she was a smart girl. If you knew her at all through high school, she wasn't getting in trouble. She wasn't out doing stupid things. She was an all-around nice girl. This was out of character."

Spady was a former member of the Chi Omega sorority, just down the street from Sigma Pi, and had many friends in Sigma Pi.

Spady was majoring in business and came from a prominent family in Nebraska. Her father, Rick Spady, owns several businesses, including Spady-Runcie, a car dealership in Beatrice, a town of about 13,000 located about 40 miles south of Lincoln, Neb.

Friends say she moved to Fort Collins to attend CSU so that she could get away from the small-town life she knew and explore different life experiences.

A neighbor said Spady's parents were vacationing out of state when they got word of their daughter's death and immediately headed to Fort Collins.

College drinking may be worse than people think. A new study shows that drinking 24 drinks at a time is not uncommon among some college students. The survey of college students in California found that among 1,000 male college drinkers, there are 50 or more occasions per month in which 24 or more drinks may be consumed.

Results from the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute also indicate that 10 percent of the time, female college drinkers may have 12 or more drinks and 20 percent of the time, male college drinkers may have 12 or more drinks.

Past research on binge drinking has looked only at consumption of five drinks or more, without quantifying how much more.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[LXAAlum]

Link


Fraternity suspended after student's death


By: James Baetke
September 08, 2004


The Sigma Pi fraternity national headquarters has suspended its CSU chapter in lieu of an investigation surrounding a CSU student's death at the house over the weekend.

Police responded to a call Sunday night at the Sigma Pi fraternity house, 709 Wagner Drive, where a female CSU student, Samantha Spady of Beatrice, Neb., was found dead in an unused room.

Mark Briscoe, executive director for the national Sigma Pi organization, flew in from Tennessee on Tuesday to offer his condolences and to survey the situation in person.

"I'm here to be here with them the next couple days, to meet the brothers, to talk to them and find out what was going on and make sure that we're cooperating with the authorities that are doing their investigations ... so that we can help them along with that," Briscoe told Campus Television.

Anne Hudgens, executive director for Campus Life, said the move to suspend the fraternity is not uncommon considering an investigation of this magnitude is still underway.

"Sigma Pi has temporarily suspended the house pending the investigation by their national chapter. It is a pretty standard procedure to have a national charter seize fraternity functions during an investigation," Hudgens said.

CSU is waiting for the complete results from the investigation to draw any conclusions about Spady's death. In the worst-case scenario, if the fraternity is found of any wrongdoing in the police investigation, CSU could withdraw Sigma Pi from university recognition.

According to Hudgens, Briscoe met directly with her and university officials to offer his support.

"(Briscoe) expressed his concern, shock and grief with the loss with one of our students," Hudgens said.

Hudgens said one of the university's main roles is to give support to the family and friends who grieve over Spady's death.

Counselors have been ready since the discovery of Spady's body, and Hudgens said the day after her death the university primarily dealt with supporting the campus and community.

"The University Counseling Center has been outstanding in providing help to what our students need," said Yvonne Paez, CSU Police Department public information officer.