Mitchell Meyer, 21, Findlay, testifies Thursday afternoon.
J.D. Pooley | Sentinel-Tribune
The parade of pledges continued Thursday during the trial of two men accused in the hazing death of Bowling Green State University student Stone Foltz.
The Wood County Common Pleas jury heard from five pledges who were at the Pi Kappa Alpha event that led to the death of Foltz. The sophomore from Delaware, Ohio, died of alcohol poisoning after the March 4, 2021 party.
Jacob Krinn and Troy Henricksen are charged with involuntary manslaughter.
There were eight pledges, including Foltz, to the fraternity known as Pike in spring 2021. Hunter Hendrix, 21, Tiffin, graduated from BGSU this past fall.
“It was just something I wanted to be a part of,” said Hendrix, who wept on the stand when recalling the night of excessive drinking.
He said the Big/Little event was known to be a drinking event.
“We all had a good understanding that we were going to have to drink a handle (a fifth of liquor),” he said. “We knew we were going to be drinking a lot.”
Hendrix said he was upset when he learned Henricksen was not going to be at the event. It was previously reported that Henricksen, who was the fraternity’s educator, was not at the event due to an early morning commitment the next day.
“It scared me about the night, going into it,” Hendrix said.
He was given a bottle of Old Crow and a cream soda mixer.
A roommate took about three drinks out of the bottle, in secret, Hendrix said.
“We weren’t supposed to pour it out or dump it,” he said.
Hendrix said that he, Mitchell Meyer and Foltz all vomited at the party.
Krinn’s attorney, Samuel Shamansky, said not one person in the fraternity hierarchy made Hendrix drink.
“We need the truth,” Shamansky said. “No one said you’ve got to drink this or else. … You could have pumped the brakes.”
Hendrix agreed.
Eric Long, Henricksen’s attorney, said that Hendrix’s testimony differed from what he told police and BGSU in their investigations. Hendrix never told officials about a pressure “atmosphere” that night, Long said.
Wood County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Gross asked Hendrix if he was truthful with police and in court. He said he was.
“A lot of it’s just blurred because we drank a lot of alcohol,” Hendrix said.
Nick Pavone, 20, a BGSU student from Cleveland, said he bonded with Foltz over their love of the Boston Red Sox and shoes.
Pavone said Henricksen, in their frat education class, told them to plan on missing class on Friday due to the Thursday Big/Little party.
That night, Pavone said he was given a bottle of Seagrams Sweet Tea Vodka.
“Did anyone say to you, ‘you don’t have to drink this bottle,’” Gross asked.
No, Pavone said.
“We were under the impression that we were to finish that bottle,” he said, adding that he did not consume all of it and vomited.
After he got sick, he was helped out of the basement of the frat house at 318 N. Main St., and outside. Pavone said he poured some of his bottle out and then noticed Foltz being carried out of the house.
Gross asked Pavone if he enjoyed the Big/Little event. He said he did not, and Gross asked why he attended.
“It was something that was needed to be able to join the fraternity,” he said.
“Nobody forced you to drink that alcohol, did they,” Shamansky said. “Nobody put a gun to your head.”
“Correct,” Pavone said.
Meyer, 21, Findlay, a BGSU student, said that the Big/Little event was the first time he hung out with Foltz.
“I thought I was going to have to drink a bottle that night,” he said, adding that it was a fraternity tradition.
The pledges had a group chat, Meyer said.
“There was definitely some people expressing some concern (about the Big/Little event),” he said.
Meyer had seen Foltz that morning and Foltz, who told Meyer he weighed 150 pounds, said he was concerned about having to drink a whole bottle.
Gross asked if anyone gave Meyer the option to participate in the Big/Little event.
No, he said.
Meyer’s Big gave him a bottle of Burnett’s vodka.
“He handed that to me and I began to drink,” Meyer said. “We were expected to drink the bottle.”
He said he drank it in 30 minutes.
He and another pledge threw up in a trash can.
Shamansky asked him if anyone forced him to drink the bottle.
“Ultimately, it was my choice,” Meyer said.
Jacob Kin, 21, Tiffin, said the pledges were anxious about the Big/Little event.
“Obviously, there was going to be alcohol involved, we knew about the bottle,” he said. “There were were definitely some nerves leading up to it. Even though we knew the general gist of what was going to happen, we didn’t know how it would happen.
“We didn’t know the extent of pressure, or anything like that, to consume.”
In pledge education class, Kin said the men were told to call off classes for the next day and bring a case of water and bread to the Big/Little event.
They looked online for food to dilute alcohol and made a breakfast of eggs together before the party, Kin said.
“Big/Little was just something you had to get through. It was part of the pledge process … to become a member,” he said.
Kin said he was taken aback by Henricksen’s absence that night.
“I thought it was somewhat irresponsible as pledge educator to not be there,” Kin said.
His bottle was Captain Morgan spiced rum.
“What was your understanding of what you were to do with that bottle?” Gross asked.
“Drink it,” Kin said.
He finished his bottle first, in 20-25 minutes, although he said his memory was fuzzy.
Kin said he remembered helping Foltz into a car, along with Krinn. He said he saw Krinn in line at a bar later that night.
Kin, though, did not go into the bar. He said his Big told him he was not “fit” to go out and got a ride home for him.
Gross asked why he drank the whole bottle.
“I guess, kind of like, approval,” he said. “Get approval from the members of the fraternity.”
Shamansky went over Kin’s interview with police days after the party, where he said he did not feel pressure to drink.
“There wasn’t one single member of the Pike fraternity that said you or any other pledge had to consume that bottle?” Shamansky asked.
“Correct,” Kin said.
Also Thursday, in the morning, Judge Joel Kuhlman said he was concerned about the “efficiency” of the questioning of witnesses, and getting through the trial in the allotted time.
In the late morning, Kuhlman also told the jurors that a county employee involved in jury selection two days ago had tested positive for coronavirus.
He offered masks to the jurors and the opportunity to deliberate in the large courtroom, instead of the small jury room.
