Posted on 01/17/2007 7:32:59 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a 28-year-old mother of three who died after taking part in a radio station's water-drinking contest.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department decided to pursue the investigation Wednesday after listening to a tape of the Jan. 12 morning radio show obtained by The Sacramento Bee, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said.
On the tape, disc jockeys on KDND-FM's "Morning Rave" show joke about the possible dangers of consuming too much water, at one point even alluding to a Northern California college student who died during a similar hazing stunt in 2005.
During the show, a listener calls in to warn the DJs that the stunt is dangerous and says someone could die.
"Yeah, we're aware of that," one of them says.
Another DJ laughs: "Yeah, they signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK."
"And if they get to the point where they have to throw up, then they're going to throw up, and they're out of the contest before they die, so that's good, right?" another one says.
Jennifer Lea Strange was one of about 18 contestants who tried to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console by determining how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom. The show's DJs called the contest "Hold your Wee for a Wii."
"Hey Carter, is anybody dying in there?" a DJ asks during the show. "We got a guy who's just about to die," the other responds, and all the DJs laugh.
"I like that we laugh about that," another says.
"Make sure he signs the release. ... Get the insurance on that, please."
Strange took part in the contest during the morning in the radio station's studio and was found dead that afternoon. The Sacramento County coroner said preliminary autopsy findings indicate she died of water intoxication.
Other contestants said Strange may have ingested up to two gallons of water. Several hours into the contest, Strange was interviewed on the air and complained that her head hurt.
"They keep telling me that it's the water. That it will tell my head to hurt and then it will make me puke," she says.
"Who told you that? The intern?" a DJ asks.
"Yeah," Strange responds. "It hurts, but it makes you feel lightheaded."
"This is what it feels like when you're drowning," one of the DJs says. "There's a lot of water inside you."
Eventually, Strange gave in and decided to accept the second-place prize, tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert. She commented that she looked pregnant, and a female DJ agreed.
"Oh, my gosh, look at that belly. That's full of water," a male DJ said. "Come on over, Jennifer, you OK?" the DJ asks. "You going to pass out right now? Too much water?"
Strange tells the talk show hosts that she could "probably drink more if you guys could pick me up."
On Tuesday, KDND's parent company, Entercom/Sacramento, fired 10 employees connected to the contest, including three morning disc jockeys. The company also took the morning show off the air.
Station spokesman Charles Sipkins said Wednesday that the company had not yet heard from the sheriff's department.
"We will, of course, cooperate with their investigation," Sipkins said.
He added that the station also is examining the circumstances surrounding Strange's death.
"We're trying to do everything we can to deal with it in a respectful and responsible way," he said.
Curran said sheriff's investigators will be interviewing all radio station employees who were involved in the contest and everyone who was working there on the day of the contest. He said the investigation will take several weeks.
Lucy Davidson, who placed first in the radio station contest, told Larry King Live on CNN Wednesday that she was very sick after participating.
"I was barely able to make it home. My head was as big as probably three basketballs. It was very, very painful," Davidson said.
In a prepared statement last weekend, Strange's husband, William, described his wife's generous nature and outgoing personality.
"Friday, Jennifer was just her bright, usual self," he said. "She was trying to win something for her family that she thought we would enjoy."
On Wednesday, attorneys for the Strange family said they planned to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the radio station on behalf of her husband and three children. Details of the suit were to be announced Thursday.
If she could have only shared 50/50 with Terri Schiavo.
No, because I can think for myself.
Do you think we, who can think for ourselves, have any obligation to assist or protect others who are less fortunate? If you saw a dumb person about to be persuaded to do something dangerous do you have any moral obligation to warn them about it?
So, if she signed a release, the station is still liable?
I see NO difference between this and the McDonalds case. You can see the jockeying for cash now, with supposed personal responsibility types even saying her family should sue.
28 years old is an ADULT, a concept foreign to the majority of the US and maybe the planet nowadays. She made a decision to participate in a stupid contest. She was not forced or held captive in any way. She chose poorly.
Am I the only one who thinks the whole thing was stupid, but not criminal ?
Everyone of these guys who put her up to it was an adult too. Whatever fault she had --- and it's not much in my opinion, since the crap she was told by them poo-pooed the consequences --- she paid over and above it with her life. That's something these people can't even hope to match, though their fault was far worse than hers.
If the station knew, or should have known, that the stunt could lead to injury or death, then yes, in my opnion they are liable.
I belong to a canoeing association where I have volunteered to lead trips; every paddler signs a release. Yet it is tradition in this group for the leader to evaluate each paddler and not allow paddlers to join the group if their inexperience or medical conditions could lead to injury or death. As a leader with knowledge of what is required I believe it would be negligent to allow an unsafe paddler to join just because they signed a release.
I guess it boils down to whether or not you believe that we are our brother's keeper?
Apparently just you and me.
Probably will be no crime charged, but a nice JUICY civil suit will succeed.
Show me where they used actual FORCE and I will agree with you, otherwise you're just projecting.
The radio station. They are running a business, and decided that they could make money off of people doing something so dangerous that outsiders were calling them warning it could kill contestants - and they laughed off the warnings.
It would be analogous to a car race being put on by a TV network, and contestants were told they could just use their commuting cars, not wear helmets, and that their bumpers would protect them in the event of a crash. And then run the race at high speed.
But the hosts twice gave the woman an opportunity to get out of the contest by offering her tickets to some concert- she refused the first time and accepted the second- but even then suggested she could still go on if they helped her.
You don't have to grab a bottle of something and force it down someone's throat to be culpable if they die because of it. If you set the situation up, encourage them to do it despite knowing the risks, tell them things about it that are misleading, and blow off people who warn you about the danger you are putting these people in, you don't have a leg to stand on either morally or legally. These radio station people are going to find out a lot about personal responsibility in the coming months -- and they'll find that theirs is a hard thing to duck.
Sheriffs don't investigate for civil damages, only criminal. There was going to be no investigation until the tape was released, suddenly the sheriff is investigating?
The DJ's were insensitive adolescent boors .. aren't most morning radio show hosts? When I listen to the am commuter hour talk radio, they all laugh at the stupidest things .. which is supposed to get people off on an "up" for their workday. Still, I'd be surprised if the DJ's had any more clue about how dangerous it really was than did Mrs. Strange.
I can't imagine the release Mrs. Strange signed didn't have language about participation in the contest possibly being dangerous, leading to injury or death. That's boilerplate.
Not that it isn't tragic, it is. Establishing legal liability is quite another story. The station owners will probably pay something to the family just to forestall a suit. But why can't families wait to bury their dead before talking about suing a person or entity seen as having deep pockets?
Bury, or pour into the ground?
A Wii for the family would be a just compensation
Her family didn't sign releases so they can sue. She'd have a tougher go of it herself, but that's a moot point.
these things are usually binding on "heirs and assigns"
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