Penn State Frat House Death: Fast Drinking, Slow Death, Frantic Coverup In Grand Jury Timeline

STATE COLLEGE, PA — On Feb. 2, Timothy Piazza and his fellow Beta Theta Pi pledge hopefuls got a text: be at the frat house at 9:07 p.m. Wear a jacket, a button-down shirt and khakis. Don't be late.

It was bid acceptance night. Piazza and the 13 other pledges complied, arriving at the house on time to participate in a ritual of readings and song-singing in the dark, followed by another ritual called "the gauntlet."

Thirteen hours later, Piazza was found unconscious in the basement of the Penn State frat house. He died the next day after doctors performing brain surgery determined he could not overcome his injuries, which included a subdural hematoma as well as a ruptured spleen.

But how did the 19-year-old sophomore from New Jersey end up there? And who was aware of what happened?

The details of the fateful frat house party were revealed in extensive detail in a Centre County Grand Jury report released Friday as authorities announced 18 of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity members would be charged in connection with Piazza's death.

Eight fraternity brothers are facing manslaughter charges. Ten others face related charges of reckless endangerment, tampering with evidence and providing alcohol to minors, among others.

In compiling the report, the grand jury said it accessed information from police interviews as well as video footage from an extensive surveillance system installed inside the fraternity house, where about 40 brothers lived. The cameras in the basement did not record on the night in question, but footage from other areas of the house was used to corroborate witness testimony.

Using the footage, coupled with testimony from witnesses, authorities have been able to piece together a disturbing sequence of events they say led to the worst-case scenario: a completely avoidable death. A death, doctors say, that was fully the result of extreme inebriation and made worse by others neglecting to summon medical attention.

This is what happened in the late hours of Feb. 2 and early morning of Feb. 3 at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, according to a Centre County Grand Jury report.

RELATED: 911 Audio From Penn State Frat House Death Released

(Warning: This information may be disturbing to some. All of this information has been provided by authorities in the grand jury report.)

Feb. 2, 9:07 p.m.

The 14 pledges arrive at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house on North Burrowes Street. It's a cold night. The prospective pledges, dressed in the requested attire, are escorted into a basement. They are told to line up in a single-file line in height order. They're instructed to put their right hand on the shoulder of the pledge in front of them.

9:34 p.m.

Pledges are led upstairs to the frat house's "Great Hall," where they perform a ritual that includes singing and reading from passages of a book. During the ritual, three brothers, Daniel Casey, Brendan Young and Ryan Burke, are illuminated by light.

The pledges are again instructed to line up in the same order, and they head back to the basement. The pledges are easily identified on camera because of their similar attire of jackets and khakis. Other fraternity brothers are wearing casual clothing.

Pledge Master Casey hands the pledges a handle of vodka, telling them to finish the bottle before it reaches the end of the line, or the pledge at the end would be required to drink the rest. But once the bottle of vodka reaches the end of the line, it was still half full, so the pledges are instructed to keep passing it until it was gone.

After finishing the handle of vodka, the pledges are instructed to line up again. They are led to a side-door entrance.

The pledge master is on the other side of the door. Each pledge knocks and one by one enters. Upon entering, the pledge master hands the pledge a bottle of vodka. They are instructed to drink it.

Then the "gauntlet" begins.

The gauntlet, a series of drinking stations designed to make pledges consume alcohol rapidly, consists of a beer "shotgunning" station, a wine bag station and a beer pong station. During the stations, as the pledges complete their drinking feats, the frat brothers pour beer on them.

Frat brothers tell investigators the purpose of the gauntlet is to get the pledges drunk in a very short amount of time. Some pledges consumed four to five drinks within a 2-minute time span.

10:44 p.m.

About an hour and 10 minutes after starting the gauntlet, pledges emerge from the basement showing "visible signs of intoxication."

Following the gauntlet, a social is planned with a female student organization. More alcohol is made available at the social. Brothers walk around with wine bags, encouraging pledges to drink.

11:17 p.m.

Brother Lars Kenyon is seen in the video helping Piazza walk from the area near the basement stairs to a couch in the Great Hall. Piazza is staggering “while hunched over.”

11:20 p.m.

Another brother, Nick Kubera, appears in the video footage and is encouraging Piazza to stand up. He walks him through the dining room and kitchen then back to the living room. “During this trek, a 'visibly intoxicated' Piazza was "obviously staggering with great difficulty."

11:21 p.m.

Kubera puts Piazza back on the couch in the Great Hall.

11:22 p.m.

Piazza stands up, and with no one there to help him, “staggers towards the lobby to the front door.” He unsuccessfully tries to open the front door. He then turns around “severely staggering” toward the basement steps. While trying to negotiate his way down the stairs, he passes two brothers, Luke Visser and Jerry Coyne, who do not offer help.

Using a back-relation calculation method, Dr. Harry Kamerow, who performed Piazza's autopsy, determined his Blood Alcohol Content at this time was between 0.28 and o.36. That is a life-threatening BAC level, according to the doctor.

11:23 p.m.

Visser points "agitatedly” toward the direction of the stairs.

Authorities believe it was at this time that Piazza fell down the basement stairs. The fall was not captured on video, however, authorities collected information from witnesses. One brother told police he heard someone fall, and when he made his way to the top of the basement stairwell, Piazza was lying on his stomach, face down at the bottom of the steps.

Other frat brothers reported seeing him “unconscious” with his feet along the staircase.

11:24 p.m.

Four brothers are seen in the video carrying Piazza's unconscious body upstairs. In the video, his body is limp, his eyes are closed, and a bruise is visible on the left side of his abdomen. The brothers put him on the couch in the Great Hall. They sit near him.

A brother removes his clothes and attempts to administer a sternum rub, to which he does not respond.

At this time, in the background of the video, another pledge is seen falling down a flight of three stairs from the lobby to the Great Hall area.

11:26 p.m.

A brother pours liquid on Piazza's face, and there is no response from Piazza. Another brother approaches and lifts his limbs, which are limp. A third brother approaches and again tries to awaken Piazza by pouring more liquid on his face. He still does not respond. The brothers take off Piazza's shoes and turn him on his side, during which time he nearly falls off the couch.

11:30 p.m.

Brother Jonah Neumann gets a bucket and a mop.

11:32 p.m.

Neumann gets a backpack, which he puts on Piazza's back. Authorities call it "backpacking," and it is done so the victim does not roll onto their back if they pass out and aspirate in their own vomit. Neumann climbs on top of Piazza, crawling from his head to his legs, and sits on his legs to help keep him from rolling off the couch.

11:51 p.m.

Frat brother Kordel Davis approaches, points to Piazza’s head and becomes "very animated" in the video footage.

During testimony, Davis explained to investigators what happened in this moment. He recalled that Piazza looked “horrible” — he had a bruise on his chest and his eyes were closed. He was thrashing and making weird movements on the couch. Davis was concerned for his life and told the brothers he needed to go to the hospital. "He screamed at them to get help," the report states.

11:52 p.m.

Neumann gets up from the couch and shoves Davis into a wall. Neumann tells Davis to leave and that they have it "under control," according to witness testimony. Beta Vice President Ed Gilmartin is summoned and walks into the Great Hall. Davis told investigators that Gilmartin and the other brothers continued to ignore his concerns.

Gilmartin admitted to investigators that Davis approached him and was concerned about Piazza's life.

No one calls 911.

11:53 p.m.

Brother Greg Rizzo writes a group message to fellow brothers that reads: “Tim Piazza might actually be a problem. He fell 15 feet down a flight of stairs, hair-first, going to need help.”

Feb. 3, 12:02 a.m.

Pledge Master Casey enters the Great Hall and slaps Piazza three times in the face. He remains unconscious.

12:14 a.m.

A brother is seen tackling a fellow frat brother onto the couch, landing on top of an unconscious Piazza.

1:37 a.m.

The brothers who remained in the room observe Piazza "vomit and twitch" on the couch. The video shows he is not able to fall asleep or be still.

2:19 a.m.

A brother told police he sent a message on the GroupMe messaging app to his fellow Beta brothers saying Piazza should go to the hospital. The only response he received was from one person, who told him he was being “overdramatic.”

2:25 a.m.

Piazza rolls off the couch. Three brothers pick him up and “slam him” back onto the couch.

2:27 a.m.

A “frustrated” Joseph Ems hits Piazza "hard" in the abdomen with his open right hand.

3:15 a.m.

Piazza rolls back onto the floor.

3:59 a.m.

Piazza attempts to get back up. A frat brother can be seen nearby. The backpack previously put on him so he wouldn't roll over comes off, and Piazza falls backward, hitting his head on the hardwood floor. A frat brother attempts to shake him, but then leaves the room.

For the next several minutes, Piazza can be seen in the video in the fetal position, grabbing at his abdomen.

5:36 a.m.

Piazza stands up and staggers toward the lobby area. Seconds later, he falls head-first into an iron railing leading up to the second floor. He lands on the stone floor. He gets up again, trying to get to the door, but falls head first into the door.

The doctor who completed his autopsy estimates at this time his BAC was between 0.19 and 0.24.

He is seen rolling around, clutching his abdomen until 5:52 a.m.

5:52 a.m.

Brother Jonathan Martines walks downstairs for a drink of water. He stops, looks at Piazza, then leaves for the kitchen before going back upstairs.

6:03 a.m.

Brother Frederick Steimling walks down for a drink of water and sees Piazza on the floor. He walks him to the Great Hall, but Piazza falls down three steps. Steimling steps over him and leaves him there. Eventually, Piazza makes his way back to Great Hall on his own.

7:21 a.m.

A fellow pledge enters the room and sits on the couch. Piazza remains lying on the floor.

7:31 a.m.

The same pledge begins to video Piazza with the Snapchat app. That pledge told investigators he heard Piazza groaning at this time. He rolled off the couch onto the floor. He continued to groan, brought himself to his knees, and put his head in his hands as if he had “a really bad headache,” the pledge told investigators.

The pledge leaves the house.

7:55 a.m.

Piazza stands one final time and staggers toward the basement steps. He is not seen in the video again until brothers discover his body on the basement floor and carry him into the camera view again.

His BAC is estimated at this time to be between 0.15 and 0.19.

Approximately 10 a.m.

Pledge Daniel Erickson wakes up at the Beta house. Another brother approaches him, asking him if he knew of the pledge who fell down the stairs. They notice Piazza's shoes and begin to search for him. He is located in the basement.

Witnesses who found Piazza the next morning describe him as lying on his back with his arms clenched tight at his sides and his hands in the air. His breathing was heavy, and he had blood on his face. He also felt cold to the touch, appeared pale and his eyes were half open.

The pledge and two brothers carried him upstairs and put him back on the couch.

No one called 911.

Instead, over the course of 42 minutes, he remained unconscious as brothers shook him, attempted to prop his limp body up, covered him up with a blanket, tried to wipe his face and attempted to dress him.

A forensic analysis of a brother’s phone included the following search terms during this time: “Falling asleep after head injury,” “True or false, a person with a serious head injury should be kept awake,” “Cold extremities in drunk person,” “binge drinking, alcohol, bruising or discoloration, cold feet and cold hands.”

10:48 a.m.

Brother Ryan McCann uses his cell phone to call 911. He did not tell the dispatcher Piazza had fallen down the stairs the night before. (You can listen to the audio here.)

Emergency medical responders take Piazza to Mount Nittany Medical Center. He is later transported to Hershey Medical Center.

Later that day, at Hershey Medical Center

Piazza goes immediately into surgery. Doctors say he had severe abdominal injuries and was in hemorrhagic shock. The operating surgeon located 80 percent of his blood supply in his abdomen. His bleeding was so severe another surgeon was summoned. His spleen was removed. He performed poorly on neurological tests, and his heart rate and blood pressure were dangerously low.

Almost half of his right skull was removed to alleviate compression from a subdural hematoma. A temporal lobectomy was also performed.

A blood draw at 12:25 p.m. measures his Blood Alcohol Content as being between .086 and .102 more than 15 hours after he began drinking alcohol. The legal limit to drive in Pennsylvania is 0.08 percent.

Feb. 4, 1:23 a.m.

Piazza is declared dead in the surgical intensive care unit.

In the days following Piazza's death

Authorities say brothers engaged in a cover-up of the sequence of events that led to Piazza's death. Numerous digital communications, including text messages, Facebook messages and GroupMe app messages, were deleted. The GroupMe messages are not recoverable, police said.

However, deleted text messages from Beta President Young's phone show the brothers were aware of the severity of Piazza's injuries. A Feb. 3 text message recovered from Young’s phone described Piazza as being “completely limp. He is in shock and was on the verge of death.”

Young also sent text messages to fellow brothers instructing them to make pledges clean the basement and get rid of any evidence of alcohol.

During the course of the investigation, some brothers admitted they considered erasing the video surveillance footage from that night.

Police also located deleted text messages on the phone of the pledge who found Piazza the next morning.

“If need be, just tell them what I told you guys, found him behind an away bar the next morning around 10 a.m. and he was freezing-cold, but we decided to call 911 right away because the kid’s health was paramount,” the text reads.

The Grand Jury's Conclusion

"Timothy J. Piazza’s death was a direct result of traumatic brain injury, of which the most severe were head injuries. This fall down the basement steps and multiple falls following his fall down the basement steps are a direct consequence of his ethanol inebriation (drunkenness)," said Kamerow, who performed Piazza's autopsy.

The grand jury concluded Piazza’s death was "not simply an unfortunate accident, but was the direct result of encouraged reckless conduct that demonstrated a reckless disregard for human life."

In addition to charges against the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, the following individuals have been charged in connection with Piazza's death:

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

• 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 (Pledge Master), 19, of Ronkonkoma, N.Y.

• Involuntary manslaughter
• Aggravated assault
• Simple assault
• Tampering with evidence
• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor

Jonah Neuman, 19, of Nashville, TN

• Involuntary manslaughter
• Aggravated assault
• Simple assault
• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor
• Disorderly conduct

Nicholas Kubera, 19, Downingtown, PA

• Involuntary manslaughter
• Aggravated assault
• Simple assault
• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor

Michael Bonatucci, 19, of Woodstock, GA

• Involuntary manslaughter
• Aggravated assault
• Simple assault
• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor

Gary Dibileo, 21, of Scranton, PA

• Involuntary manslaughter
• Aggravated assault
• Simple assault
• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor

Luke Visser, 19, of Encinitas, CA

• Involuntary manslaughter
• Aggravated assault
• Simple assault
• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor

Joe Sala, 19, of Erie, PA

• Involuntary manslaughter
• Aggravated assault
• Simple assault
• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor

Michael Angelo Schiavone, 21, of Yardley, PA

• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor

Craig Heimer, 21, of Port Matilda, PA

• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor

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

• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor

Parker Jax Yochim, 19, of Waterford, PA

• Recklessly endangering another person
• Hazing
• Furnishing alcohol to minors
• Unlawful acts relative to liquor

Ed Gilmartin, 20, of Scranton, PA

• Tampering with evidence

Ryan McCann, 21, of Pittsburgh, PA

• Tampering with evidence

Lucas Rockwell, 20, of Washington, D.C.

• Tampering with evidence

Braxton Becker, 20, of Niskayuna, N.Y.

• Tampering with evidence

Ryan Foster, 21, of Bedford, MA

• Tampering with evidence

Joseph Ems, 20, of Philadelphia, PA

• Recklessly endangering another person

WATCH: DA Outlines Charges In Penn State Death

PHOTO: The Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, 220 N. Burrowes St., State College, PA (Google Earth)