Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Alex Mullins, (21), Joshua Thomas, (18) and 3 others died after Frat member Brandon Grossheim allegedly gave them detailed instructions and encouraged them to committ suicide

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    3,753
    Rep Power
    0

    Alex Mullins, (21), Joshua Thomas, (18) and 3 others died after Frat member Brandon Grossheim allegedly gave them detailed instructions and encouraged them to committ suicide

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...id=recommended

    The parents of two college students who took their own lives in a Missouri fraternity house have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Truman State University, the fraternity and a fraternity member they claim ?encouraged? their children and three others to kill themselves within the same year.

    Brandon Grossheim, 22, an Alpha Kappa Lambda member, had close ties to the five and was either the last to speak to them or found their bodies, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Adair County Circuit Court in Missouri.

    The case shines new light on the power of influence when it comes to vulnerable and at-risk individuals, especially coming from people in positions of trust, suicide prevention experts said.

    "When you?re in a Greek organization, your fraternity brothers are in a unique position of influence and trust with each other," said April Foreman, a psychologist and board member of the American Association of Suicidology, a nonprofit that advocates for suicide prevention. "So it's different than another peer you know."

    The lawsuit claims the manner of death was similar in the suicides, and that Grossheim had keys and access to the rooms of at least four of the victims.

    The students, Alex Mullins, 21, Joshua Thomas, 18, and the three other unnamed males died between August 2016 and August 2017 with two deaths occurring just three weeks apart.

    Three of the victims were members of the fraternity, and the two others were acquaintances of the group, according to the lawsuit.

    Josh Thomas and Alex Mullins, students at Truman State University in Missouri.
    Josh Thomas and Alex Mullins, students at Truman State University in Missouri.Courtesy Gorovsky Law
    Four of the victims had struggled with depression and expressed prior suicidal thoughts, the lawsuit stated, adding that the victims' mental health issues were "common knowledge" among fraternity members, including Grossheim, who was house manager when two of the victims lived there.

    He was aware of their vulnerabilities and called himself a ?superhero? and ?peacemaker? who gravitated toward ?these [depressed] people,? the lawsuit stated.

    He also gave ?advice? and ?step by step? directions on how to deal with issues such as depression, including ?advice on how to commit suicide," according to the lawsuit.

    Grossheim also allegedly began wearing one of the victim?s clothes and started dating his girlfriend shortly after his death, the parents said .

    ?There were too many similarities, one person in common and so many questions... It?s time for answers,? Mullins' mother, Melissa Bottorff-Arey, said in a statement.

    Truman State University and Alpha Kappa Lambda were aware the students suffered from depression and were ?vulnerable" because the university's counseling service was in contact with the some of the victims over missed therapy appointments, the parents claim in the document.

    Truman State University denied having any involvement in the students? death.

    ?We strongly disagree with the allegations as stated in the lawsuit and will defend the suit vigorously," school officials said in a statement. "As the litigation proceeds, it will become clear that the university is not responsible for the deaths of these students.?

    Alpha Kappa Lambda said it could not comment because it had not yet reviewed the suit, and no attorney was listed for Grossheim in the court documents.

    In 2017, Massachusetts teen Michelle Carter was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend via text to kill himself. The high-profile case sparked a national conversation about the culpability of words in someone's suicide, especially among young people.

    ?Anytime you take someone really vulnerable and really at risk and they are connected to someone and that person starts to lead them down the wrong path, their vulnerability and risk goes up, particularly if that person presents themselves as a 'helper' or 'healer' or something similar,? Dan Reidenberg, executive director of SAVE, a suicide prevention organization, said.

    "People need to understand that is it is okay to have conversations around suicide as long as you?re doing it a way that provides support, encouragement, seeking resources, and not support to die," he added.

    If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

  2. #2
    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Probably South Of You
    Posts
    11,256
    Rep Power
    21474859
    Saw this one the other day, sounds wild

  3. #3
    Sana sana colita de rana beli's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    25,845
    Rep Power
    21474876
    This article has a lot more details
    https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile...ng-5-suicides/

  4. #4
    Scoopski Potatoes Nic B's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Sacramento, California
    Posts
    12,776
    Rep Power
    21474861
    This is insane, 5 people?!?!


    Quote Originally Posted by marakisses View Post
    yes i said i will leave it under you storage he said cuddle with me i said shut up it over??? what am i doing wrong??
    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Happy Birthday! I hid a dead body in your backyard to celebrate. Good luck finding it under the cement. You can only use a stick to look for it.

  5. #5
    Moderator puzzld's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    21,600
    Rep Power
    21474874


    Really? That sounds like some kind of serial killer sh*t.
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    lol at Nestle being some vicious smiter, she's the nicest person on this site besides probably puzzld. Or at least the last person to resort to smiting.
    Quote Originally Posted by nestlequikie View Post
    Why on earth would I smite you when I can ban you?

  6. #6
    Senior Member KimTisha's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Somewhere Over the Rainbow
    Posts
    7,229
    Rep Power
    21474861
    Quote Originally Posted by puzzld View Post


    Really? That sounds like some kind of serial killer sh*t.
    Abso-feckin'-lutely. One person being involved in five suicides is NOT a coincidence. He called himself "The Peacemaker," more like "The Rest in Peace-maker," I'd say.

    Grossheim had access to all five of these people and was one of the last people to see them before their deaths. Gorovsky said Grossheim was “repeatedly found in the proximity of the deaths” and was even “reportedly seen wearing one of the victims clothing and carrying money that went missing from another victim’s room after their deaths.”
    Grossheim had keys to all four male victims rooms/apartments. When John Doe 1 died in the AKL fraternity house, Grossheim was the house manager and was the one who found his body. The same is true regarding Mullins’s and Thomas’s alleged hangings. When John Doe 2 allegedly hanged himself, he had moved into a separate apartment building, but Grossheim lived across the hall. On top of this, when Thomas’s body was found he was hanging near a scrap of paper with Grossheim’s name and contact info on it.
    You are talking to a woman who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.
    ...Collector of Chairs. Reader of Books. Hater of Nutmeg...

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •