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.”
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Reader Reactions
You people should be ashamed of yourselves acting so ridiculous and childish. This man is DEAD. He will never be back. People’s lives on both sides of the incident are changed forever and your incessant arguing will not bring it back. You are only disgracing yourself.
This is no doubt a very very sad situation. Any time someone loses a life it is a sad situation. I do think there should be more investigation on the matter but there are facts here that one cannot ignore. Jef was on blood thinner, you are not supposed to drink alcohol on blood thinner because of the side effects of mixing them which is it thins the blood too much. This can cause excessive bleeding and the effects of alcohol are intensified due to the blood being so thin. When your blood is too thin you get dizzy and are quite wobbly on your feet. I cannot and will not make any comments on what happened that night because I was not there but Jefs actions by drinking on the blood thinner most likely did play a large role in his death. We cannot say what would have happened in all the infinite “what if” situations but we must accept that he was partly responsible as well.
The sad thing is that no one mentions alcohol swilling people that don’t know when to quit. To me more than one was at fault. The deceasee, the deceaser, the ones that were not drunk, if any, that did not try to escort the drunks out before potential trouble started. There is a responsibility to drinking. If someone is invited to a get together and you know that person is a drunk you are an enabler for his drunkenness whether trouble starts or not.
To me many were at fault and the whiners are just trying to sooth their own selves for enabling drunks to get their fix.
Take responsibily for your own action and remember that the next time alcohol is served.
TROUBLE FOLLOWS ALCOHOL. Plain and simple
Nope.
G-O-O-D O-N-E.
Mr. Brown…look up the following word in your dictionary: I-G-N-O-R-E.
A repost.
For all of those who base their posts purely on what is published in this newspaper, I offer you a few facts:
David Jun is the eyewitness who was at Machiavelli’s that night. David Jun was outside talking to Jef when this incident occurred. He gave a statement to the police (who arrived at the scene after the fact) and in his statement said that Jef did not assault Duc Thach (or his wife) and that Duc Thach waited around 30 seconds before throwing the single punch that caused Jef’s death. A death which has been ruled a homicide. David Jun has gave his statement, over the course of a month or so, to police a total of three times and never changed his story. His wife (a co-owner of Machiavelli’s gave her statement regarding Duc Thach’s drunken behavior to police twice and never changed her story. Both were treated almost as suspects by the investigating officers. The investigating officers placed them in separate rooms, called them liars, acted aggressively toward them and told each that the other had changed their story (they had not). David and Val Jun have shown unwavering support for Jef and his family and have done their all to see justice for him. The other owner had never met Duc Thach until the night before his wedding and has no connection to him and has also shown the same support for Jef and his family. The same investigating officers spoke once to Duc Thach and his wife (who could not have testified against him) three hours after the fact and decided his defense for him that night. The paramedics had to resuscitate Jef as soon as they arrived. That means that Jef’s injuries were indeed life threatening. Capt. Charlie Thomas or any officer arriving on the scene would have known this, regardless of what he says. Any blood thinner medication he was taking was for a blood clot in his leg, causing him to walk with a limp and often with a cane. A fact which surely played a role in his falling backward, but was not reported in this newspaper. He did not, ever, take any drugs for any other reason. Duc Thach was questioned three hours after this incident so his alcohol level was never checked. He was also allowed to leave the state with no charges being filed.
Questions?
To (AllenBrownnose): Really? Is that the best you can do?
One quick question for those of you who were present the night of the tragedy. Did Jef get the alcohol he was drinking from the establishment that was holding the party? If so, the bartender had a legal obligation to cut off Jef’s drinks when it was obvious he was getting too drunk. Not that this is a derrogatory to Jef. I know a lot of people who actually get to the point of having way too much to drink at parties, etc. My point is that a lot of the people who are pointing and screaming the loudest may be doing so from a self preservation standpoint. There is a legal obligation to maintain the safety of the customer in a bar and several laws that require a customer to be “cut off” when approaching the limit of lack of control. SO, who provided the drinks guys?
I totally understand how heart broken Jef’s friends and family must be, but he was drinking, cussing at this Thach man’s wife and then threw a punch but missed and got punched instead. He may not have fell if he had not been under the influence. Thach did not repeatedly hit Jef. Too bad he can’t become alive again and learn a life’s lesson. Maybe everyone can learn a lesson from this , sometimes when you pick a fight you get your butt whipped and in this case worse.
Attention Who re Tactics
Attention Who res come in all sizes, colors and creeds.
In order to obtain their necessary daily dosage of attention, Attention Who res will employ a variety of tactics. Common examples include:
Turning an internet wide joke into a serious business protest because of minimal mention from media sources…
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