Police statements reveal University of Missouri Fiji hazing defendants' varying involvement with Danny Santulli

Not all of the eight defendants charged with felony hazing in public grand jury indictments filed Friday were in direct contact with Danny Santulli on the night he collapsed from alcohol poisoning.

Others were charged because of their planning and involvement with the "pledge dad reveal night" on the night of Oct. 19 and morning of Oct. 20, 2021, at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house at the University of Missouri. Probable cause statements filed in Boone County Circuit Court state the event endangered "numerous" pledges, including Santulli.

The fraternity, also known as Fiji, was shut down at MU less than a week later based on the chapter's history of concerning incidents. The university disciplined 13 fraternity members.

Santulli's brain was damaged from the amount of alcohol he consumed. He is now blind and remains unable to walk or talk, requiring around-the-clock care at his parents' home in Minnesota.

The probable cause statements became publicly available with the Friday filing of public grand jury indictments. That also resulted in hearing dates for defendants to be changed.

More:Eight additional felony hazing charges filed in Mizzou Fiji alcohol poisoning incident

There aren't public probable cause statements in the case files for Ryan Delanty and Thomas Shultz, the first two defendants indicted by a grand jury in June.

A phone call from Shultz to MU police is common among all of the probable cause statements made public.

"At 10-20-2021 at approximately 0049 hours, MUPD was notified by Thomas Shultz that Daniel Santulli, an approximate 18-year-old male pledge member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, had been taken to the hospital by a private vehicle from 507 Kentucky Blvd. due to suspected alcohol poisoning," the statements read. "Shultz advised MUPD that Santulli was not responsive and was not breathing at the time of transport. Shultz further advised Santulli and several others had been drinking at 507 Kentucky Blvd. Shultz indicated that Santulli drank approximately three-fourths of a fifth of Tito's vodka."

The probable cause statements describe scenes from security footage, including that obtained by the Tribune, showing shirtless, blindfolded pledges walking single file downstairs.

Samuel Lane is an example of a defendant without direct contact with Santulli. The probable cause statement for Lane references a 1:54 p.m. group chat in which Lane states that the fraternity's large number of pledges would be disabled from drinking too much before they got to a local bar and difficult to transport there.

More:Danny Santulli's family on 'Good Morning America': Prosecute the Fiji brothers responsible

Another fraternity member allegedly texted: "We could pretend it's a philanthropy event where we take disabled kids to the bar."

Lane allegedly coordinated with other members getting alcohol from a member's room to the courtyard of the fraternity house, according to the statement.

The statement concluded that the officer had probable cause to believe Lane committed felony hazing.

"This was done by Lane's participation in and coordination of a fraternity event which included activities that created a substantial risk to the lives of numerous pledge members of Phi Gamma Delta, including Danny Santulli," the statement reads.

Samuel Gandhi allegedly posted a photo of Santulli lying face down on a couch, his head hanging of the edge, on the social media platform Snapchat, with his message: "That was 11:49 p.m."

The probable cause statement for Gandhi notes "excessive amounts of alcohol consumption" seen on security footage, with several underage pledges vomiting. The footage shows Gandhi allegedly moving alcohol to the courtyard before the event.

John O'Neill, the "house dad," allegedly helped coordinate the alcohol supply.

"John 'Jack' O'Neill knowingly participated in the PDR event by assisting in providing bulk amounts of alcohol to minor aged persons which recklessly endangered the physical health and safety of the pledge members of Phi Gamma Delta on 10-19-2021 as evidenced by the hospitalization of Daniel Santulli," O'Neill's probable cause statement concludes.

More:Court hearings changed for several University of Missouri Fiji hazing defendants

In a group text, Blake Morsovillo allegedly chatted with other members, including Lane, about providing the alcohol.

Benjamin Parres allegedly texted with Shultz about Santulli's "not good" condition, asking, "How good is not good?"

Parres also allegedly was involved in a group text planning for the pledge dad reveal night, including that pledges should be asked to bring a change of clothes.

In the probable cause statement for Samuel Morrison, Morrison allegedly chats to start giving the pledges booze, because it would take awhile to tape the bottles to their hands. Morrison has waived his arraignment, which had been scheduled for Oct. 14.

Harrison Reichman's probable cause statement describes how Reichman on video enters the TV room where Santulli is on the sofa at 12:43 a.m., picks Santulli up off the couch and carries him out of the room.

Another probable cause statement identifies Benjamin Karl as the "pledge dad" of a pledge under age 21. Karl allegedly texted about "boozing with" his pledge. Karl has waived his arraignment scheduled for Nov. 14.

Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Police detail Mizzou Fiji hazing defendants' involvement with Santulli