Frat House Death At Penn State: A Who's Who Of The Accused

The 18 frat brothers charged in the death of a Penn State student will appear in court Monday. Who are they?

Kara Seymour, Patch Staff

Posted Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 3:27 pm ET|Updated Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 4:10 pm ET

The 18 Penn State frat brothers charged in connection with a student's death at the Beta Theta Pi house in February will appear in Centre County court Monday, June 12, for a preliminary hearing.

Eight fraternity brothers are facing manslaughter charges in connection with the death of 19-year-old Timothy Piazza, whom authorities say was forced to drink excessively before falling and hurting himself. Ten others face related charges of reckless endangerment, tampering with evidence and providing alcohol to minors, among other charges.

Piazza, a sophomore from New Jersey, fell 15 feet down a flight of stairs during the Feb. 2 pledge-acceptance party, the Centre County District Attorney alleges. Prosecutors say the fellow fraternity brothers neglected to summon the appropriate medical attention in fear of getting in trouble for hazing and underage drinking.

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It was nearly 12 hours after the young man's fall when someone finally called 911, authorities say. Piazza died the next day after surgeons determined his head and internal injuries were too severe to overcome. Authorities say hazing and excessive alcohol use were factors in his death.

The 18 Penn State students were charged in May after a three-month-long grand jury investigation. The grand jury released an outline of the disturbing situation that unfolded in the late hours of Feb. 2 and into the early morning of Feb. 3. That harrowing grand jury timeline, created using surveillance footage and witness testimony, can be read here.

But who exactly are the young men charged with manslaughter in connection with Piazza's death?

Here's what we know about them:

(Editor's note: Efforts to contact legal representation for the defendants charged with manslaughter were made by Patch. Two of those attorneys declined to comment. The others did not respond to an inquiry from Patch.)

The following fraternity brothers are facing manslaughter charges:

Brendan Young (Beta president), 21, of Malvern, PA

Charged With: involuntary manslaughter; aggravated assault; simple assault; tampering with evidence; recklessly endangering another person; hazing; furnishing alcohol to minors; unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Young is a 2014 graduate of Great Valley High School, where he played golf. The Savy Main Line blog reports he plays golf at the Chester Valley Golf Club and once worked at Golf Galaxy in Berwyn.

In 2015, the Her Campus blog named Young a "campus cutie." In a 14-question interview with the website, Young touched on topics like his favorite movie, food, and biggest turn-on.

In that interview, Her Campus asked Young, What is your favorite part about being in Beta Theta Pi?

His response: "The sense of brotherhood. Beta has a lot of good guys, and I can tell some of them will be my friends for life. I didn't get the same sense of brotherhood at any other house while rushing."

Young, a junior, pledged Beta in the fall of 2014 and became the fraternity's president in November of 2016. Authorities say as president he helped plan rush events.

Investigators say he was aware of the stakes. In a text to fellow frat brother and pledge master Daniel Casey the month before Piazza's death, he wrote, “I know you know this. If anything goes wrong with the pledges this semester then both of us are f-----.”

Prosecutors further allege he engaged in a cover-up following Piazza's death, including deleting messages and instructing other fraternity brothers to hide evidence.

In a Feb. 3 text to Casey, Young wrote: "Make sure pledges clean up basement and get rid of any evidence of alcohol.”

Daniel Casey (Pledge Master), 19, of Ronkonkoma, N.Y.

Charged with: involuntary manslaughter; aggravated assault; simple assault; tampering with evidence; recklessly endangering another person; hazing; furnishing alcohol to minors; unlawful acts relative to liquor.

Daniel Casey, a 2015 Connetquot High School graduate, was Beta Theta Pi's pledge master. Authorities say he was directly involved with planning the pledge night events and the purchasing of alcohol. A grand jury presentment details various communications between Casey and other fraternity brothers related to planning hazing events.

On the night of the fatal bid acceptance night party, investigators say Casey led "the gauntlet," a fraternity ritual that included stations with various ways to consume alcohol quickly, such as games and chugging.

On the night of Feb. 2, Casey handed pledges vodka, encouraging them to drink it straight from the bottle.

Casey appears prominently on the surveillance footage reviewed by the grand jury. In addition to his on-video involvement in the gauntlet, at 12:02 a.m. on Feb. 3, Casey entered the fraternity house's Great Hall, where Piazza was unconscious, and slapped him three times in the face. He remained unconscious, the video shows.

Casey's attorney, Steven Trialonas, made the following statement to Newsday: “The government assumes that these young men, many of whom were intoxicated themselves, should have been able to differentiate symptoms of extreme intoxication from symptoms of a life threatening head injury. That is an impossible burden to place on them.”

Jonah Neuman, 19, of Nashville, TN (Pictured far right in this Facebook photo)

Neuman, who attended a prominent Tennessee private school, makes several appearances in the grand jury report. In the minutes after Piazza's fall down the stairs, as a group of brothers were pouring water on his face attempting to get him to wake up from an unconscious state, Neuman was the one who retrieved a bucket and a mop, the video shows.

Neuman, who served as a manager for the Penn State wrestling team, according to the Tennessean.com, is also seen in the surveillance video "backpacking" Piazza — a tactic described by authorities as an attempt to prevent Piazza from rolling over and aspirating in his own vomit. After putting the book-filled backpack on Piazza, Neuman can be seen climbing on top of him and sitting on his legs to help keep him from rolling off the couch.

Perhaps the most notable portion of the video featuring Neuman is when investigators say he shoved a fellow brother who was advocating to get Piazza medical attention.

He admitted to the grand jury that he saw Piazza just after his fall down the stairs, saying he was lying “torso face down" and his legs were still on the stairs. He was also one of four brothers that carried Piazza upstairs after the fall.

Nicholas Kubera, 19, Downingtown, PA

Kubera, a 2016 Downington High School graduate, had encounters with Piazza just before the fall down the stairs. He's seen in the surveillance video encouraging Piazza to stand up. He then walks him around the fraternity house and returns him to the couch. Piazza is “visibly intoxicated” and staggering “with great difficulty” during this stroll around the house, the video shows. He fell less than five minutes later.

Authorities say Kubera ran the beer "shotgun" station during the gauntlet hazing ritual.

When reporters with the Daily Mail visited the Kubera family's $500,000 home in Downingtown, "dogs played in the garden," but no one came to the door to respond to questions about the young man's alleged role in Piazza's death.

Michael Bonatucci, 19, of Woodstock, GA

Bonatucci's family has denied his involvement in Piazza's death. In a public statement released last month by Rocco C. Cipparone Jr., the lawyer representing Bonatucci, the family said the charges are "inappropriate."

In fact, Bonatucci's lawyer says he was not even present in the Beta house "when the most salient events and observations alleged in the presentment occurred." Cipparone told Patch due to attorney-client privilege he was not at liberty to disclose where Bonatucci was as the situation unfolded in the late hours of Feb. 2 and into the early morning of Feb. 3.

However, surveillance video shows Bonatucci in the house at the time of the gauntlet, the grand jury report says. He is observed on video carrying a case of Natural Light beer.

Bonatucci, who was in his freshman year at Penn State when the fatal incident occurred, is described by his family as being "a normal young man who enjoys sports" and "a wonderful son and human being."

Gary DiBileo, 21, of Scranton, PA

DiBileo is the son of the Lackawanna County Council controller. The grand jury report indicates DiBileo ran the wine station during the gauntlet.

DiBileo once threatened to drop out of pledging for the fraternity due to the way he was treated, but Young convinced him to stay, according to conversations detailed in the grand jury report. “Bad idea,” Young wrote in a text. “Talk to me in the morning.... Alcohol creates blurry lines.”

Luke Visser, 19, of Encinitas, CA

Visser is a 2016 graduate of La Costa Canyon High School, where he was a member of the school's varsity football team in 2014 and 2015, an NBC affiliate in San Diego reported.

Authorities say he ran the gauntlet's beer pong station during the pledge night party on Feb. 2. He is seen in the surveillance video just before the fall. According to the grand jury report, Piazza passed him in the hallway, and Visser can be seen pointing “agitatedly” toward the stairs.

Visser was also one of four brothers who carried Piazza upstairs after the fall.

Joe Sala, 19, of Erie, PA

Sala was Casey's assistant pledge master during the time of Piazza's death. Sala greeted the pledges at the beginning of the gauntlet, ushering them through a door where they were met with a bottle of vodka from Casey, the grand jury presentment reveals.

Sala attended Cathedral Preparatory School, according to his Facebook profile, which he used to promote Beta Theta Pi initiatives. In November, he shared a post aiming to raise money via an Uber partnership with Penn State's THON. "Please help my fraternity Beta Theta Pi break our $100,000 goal this year!"

The following students were also charged in connection with Piazza's death:

Michael Angelo Schiavone, 21, of Yardley, PA

Charged with: recklessly endangering another person; hazing; furnishing alcohol to minors; unlawful acts relative to liquor

Craig Heimer, 21, of Port Matilda, PA

Charged with: recklessly endangering another person; hazing; furnishing alcohol to minors; unlawful acts relative to liquor

Lars Kenyon, 19, of Barrington, R.I.

Charged with: recklessly endangering another person; hazing; furnishing alcohol to minors; unlawful acts relative to liquor

Parker Jax Yochim, 19, of Waterford, PA

Charged with: recklessly endangering another person; hazing; furnishing alcohol to minors; unlawful acts relative to liquor

Ed Gilmartin, 20, of Scranton, PA