Spring Break
Two URI alumni settle in pub crawl lawsuit
Chris Curtis
Issue date: 2/11/09 Section: News
02/11/09 - A wrongful death lawsuit against two University of Rhode Island alumni involved in a 2004 pub crawl ended yesterday with both parties settling out of court.
The parents of Francis Marx V, a Fairfield University student killed in 2004 under disputed circumstances, brought the suit against Loren Welsh, 26, of Branchburg, N.J., and Jarrad Rocheleau, 26, of Cumberland, R.I.
The incident occurred in Newport in the early morning hours of May 20.
Marx, 21, of Richboro, Pa., had attended a Wheaton College formal dance at Rosecliff Mansion in Newport with his girlfriend, Wheaton student Anna Cochrane.
Around 1 a.m., Marx, Cochrane and several friends who had also attended the formal were walking along Thames Street near the Perry Mill Wharf intersection. The group became involved in an altercation with some URI students, including Welsh and Rocheleau.
The URI students were among approximately 300 who had purchased tickets to participate in a pub crawl, and were waiting to board busses after bars closed.
Both the URI students and the group from the Wheaton formal had been drinking, according to sworn depositions entered in the case, and Marx's blood alcohol level was .249 at the time of his death, according to the toxicology report.
During the course of the altercation, Marx landed on his back in the street, where he was crushed under the rear wheels of a bus that had been transporting students on the pub crawl.
Witnesses offered differing accounts as to whether he fell accidentally or was pushed.
According to the pretrial memorandum filed by Marx's parents, Welsh was belligerently drunk and started the confrontation, slapping Marx and others.
Rocheleau, the statement said, "got wrapped up in a wrestling grip with [Marx]."
According to the memorandum, Marx was pushed backwards.
"He had momentum," the document stated. "He looked like a cartoon character flailing his arms after being propelled backwards."
The parents of Francis Marx V, a Fairfield University student killed in 2004 under disputed circumstances, brought the suit against Loren Welsh, 26, of Branchburg, N.J., and Jarrad Rocheleau, 26, of Cumberland, R.I.
The incident occurred in Newport in the early morning hours of May 20.
Marx, 21, of Richboro, Pa., had attended a Wheaton College formal dance at Rosecliff Mansion in Newport with his girlfriend, Wheaton student Anna Cochrane.
Around 1 a.m., Marx, Cochrane and several friends who had also attended the formal were walking along Thames Street near the Perry Mill Wharf intersection. The group became involved in an altercation with some URI students, including Welsh and Rocheleau.
The URI students were among approximately 300 who had purchased tickets to participate in a pub crawl, and were waiting to board busses after bars closed.
Both the URI students and the group from the Wheaton formal had been drinking, according to sworn depositions entered in the case, and Marx's blood alcohol level was .249 at the time of his death, according to the toxicology report.
During the course of the altercation, Marx landed on his back in the street, where he was crushed under the rear wheels of a bus that had been transporting students on the pub crawl.
Witnesses offered differing accounts as to whether he fell accidentally or was pushed.
According to the pretrial memorandum filed by Marx's parents, Welsh was belligerently drunk and started the confrontation, slapping Marx and others.
Rocheleau, the statement said, "got wrapped up in a wrestling grip with [Marx]."
According to the memorandum, Marx was pushed backwards.
"He had momentum," the document stated. "He looked like a cartoon character flailing his arms after being propelled backwards."
