Death Of Jef Roberts Due To Head Trauma According To Report

BY MICHAEL L. OWENS
and CLAIRE GALOFARO
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Local musician Jef Roberts died March 1 as a direct result of a street fight a week earlier, his autopsy report reveals, but a grand jury last month refused to charge the man who struck the final blow, Duc Thach.

The report plays up Roberts’ .274 alcohol level as having played a big part in bringing the 329-pound man to the sidewalk fronting downtown restaurant Machiavelli’s on Feb. 23. Poor motor control and a decreased level of consciousness were just a part of what alcohol brought to the picture, East Tennessee State University forensic pathologist Teresa A. Campbell wrote in her May 1 report, obtained by the Bristol Herald Courier on Monday.

Campbell suggested that the 40-year-old Roberts would never have toppled backward and smacked his head on the sidewalk if not for Thach’s punch to the face. The report also states that Roberts’ use of the blood thinner Coumadin, brain swelling and excessive fluid in his brain contributed to his death a week after the bar punch.

“Since the above discussed sequence of events were precipitated by a blow to the head received in an altercation, the manner of death is homicide,” Campbell wrote.

Homicide is defined as the act of one person killing another and is not always considered illegal, according to USLaw.com.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Duc Thach, 33, of Fort Campbell, Ky., could not reached for comment Monday night.

An official finding on the punch was no shocker for Roberts’ friend and State Line Bar and Grille bartender Marcus Adkins, 32, who was at the Machiavelli’s wedding reception.

“I thought it was evident that night that the punch caused it,” he said. “It’s really not a surprise to me.”

A Sullivan County grand jury ruled against charging Thach on May 27, Bristol Tennessee Police Capt. Charlie Thomas told the Herald Courier .

When pressed Monday for the autopsy report, Thomas handed it over and suggested the results not be publicized because it would hurt Roberts’ family.

“We did everything in the investigation that we could do,” he said. “The facts are what they are, and those facts were presented to the grand jury.”

District Attorney H. Greeley Wells would not discuss the case when contacted at home Monday night, saying he would be more open today when at the office with the case file.

Roberts’ death sparked a frenzy of rage against Thach, the police and the media. Comments jammed the Herald Courier’s Web site since publication of Roberts’ death first appeared.

Readers questioned the police for not arresting Thach. Tempers roiled over publication of Roberts’ criminal history with alcohol. And Thach was dubbed a coward for punching Roberts and leaving the scene.

At the time, Thomas, the police captain, blasted reader suggestions of a police coverup to protect Thach simply because of his military status. “It’s good for us,” he said of Thach’s station at Fort Campbell, Ky. “We know where he is.”

From the outset, police said Roberts was the aggressor, and that Thach struck in self-defense.

Both Thach and Roberts were leaving a wedding party at Machiavelli’s Italian Restaurant on Fifth Street when the altercation began. Roberts reportedly cursed at Thach’s wife, shoved the husband and, after some heated words, drew his fist as if to throw a punch, police said, adding that’s when Thach struck the single blow.

Roberts lost consciousness after the fall, the autopsy states, had his heart resuscitated by paramedics and died about a week later at Bristol Regional Medical Center.

“No obvious cause of death other than the head trauma with its attendant complications can be found,” Dr. Campbell wrote in the autopsy report.

Still, the results do not comfort Adkins, Roberts’ friend.

“Sometimes, people are held accountable and sometimes they’re not. That’s our system,” he said. “My friend is gone and there’s nothing they can do to bring him back.”

mowens@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2549

cgalofaro@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2531