ST. LOUIS _ The parents of two young men who killed themselves at a Truman State University fraternity house are suing another fraternity member, claiming his "psychological manipulation" helped lead to their deaths and the deaths of three others who committed suicide within the same year.
The lawsuit filed this week claims that over one school year, five friends of the defendant, Brandon Grossheim, committed suicide and that Grossheim had keys to four of their rooms and was either the last person to see each of them alive or the first to find their body. The suit also claims Grossheim wore one of the dead student's clothing, carried money that went missing from his room weeks earlier and dated his girlfriend after his death.
The allegations are among a number of links between Grossheim and the five suicides in the wrongful death suit filed Wednesday in Adair County Circuit Court against Grossheim, Truman State University and a fraternity in which Grossheim and three of the suicide victims were members.
"There were too many similarities, one person in common and so many questions ... it's time for answers," said Melissa Bottorff-Arey the mother of one of the students, in a written statement.
Her son, Alex Mullins, of Kansas City, was one of three Truman students and Alpha Kappa Lambda members to commit suicide at the fraternity house at 918 S. Osteopathy St. in Kirksville, Mo., from August 2016 to April 2017. Jake Hughes of Eureka, committed suicide less than three weeks later. Josh Thomas, 18, of St. Peters, was found in the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity house in the early hours of April 6.
The suit also links the deaths to two additional alleged suicides in 2017, of a woman, Jane Doe, and a man, John Doe 2, in their early 20s living in Kirksville. The man, 21, was the third of the four men to commit suicide. The woman's death was not previously reported publicly. The suit does not name Hughes but refers to a fraternity member and Truman student as "John Doe 1."
All five were friends of Grossheim, who "aided" and "encouraged" them in his role counseling depressed students, according to the lawsuit filed by St. Louis-based attorney and former U.S. attorney Nicole Gorovsky.
All three fraternity members battled depression and discussed prior suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide in front of other fraternity members, the suit says. It names Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity and Truman State University as defendants, claiming school officials knew the students were "vulnerable and suffered from depression" but allowed Grossheim "unfettered access" to them.
"This situation had been swept under the rug," Gorovsky said in a written statement. "The University held a short symposium on suicide and the fraternity seemingly shrugged their shoulders and everyone went away quietly. But, no one told the public, parents or students on campus about the psychological manipulation that had been involved...that a fellow student and fraternity brother was a danger."
An attorney for Truman State denied the allegations.
"We strongly disagree with the allegations as stated in the lawsuit and will defend the suit vigorously," attorney Warren Wells said in a written statement. "As the litigation proceeds, it will become clear that the university is not responsible for the deaths of these students."
Warren declined to comment further. Grossheim could not immediately be reached for comment. An attorney for Grossheim was not listed in court records as of Thursday. A representative with the national office of Alpha Kappa Lambda could not immediately be reached for comment.
The deaths stumped Kirksville police, who told the Post-Dispatch in June 2017 that investigators saw a connection among the victims but found no overarching explanation. No criminal charges have been filed in the deaths.
Authorities with Kirksville Police and Adair County Prosecutor Matt Wilson's office not immediately be reached for comment.
The four men each committed suicide by hanging, according to the suit. Mullins was found in his room at the fraternity house, and Thomas was found in a storage closet.
Police investigators found that Grossheim had keys to all four men's rooms, and was the last person to see or talk to all five people before their deaths. Bottorff-Arey and Michael and Susan Thomas, the mother of Josh Thomas, hired Gorovsky and filed suit.
Grossheim was the "House Manager" at AKL, and was the building manager at an apartment complex where one of the victims was found dead in his room _ across the hall from Grossheim's room, the suit says.
Grosshim allegedly was the first person to find Mullins and John Doe 1 dead in both cases, the suit says. Thomas was allegedly found dead near a scrap of paper with Grossheim's name and contact information on it.
Two AKL fraternity brothers in supervisory roles told police that they had problems with Grossheim and that he had been acting "strangely," according to the suit. Grossheim allegedly told people he considered himself a "superhero" with the nickname "peacemaker."
"He counseled and gave advice and "step-by-step directions" to people on how to "deal with depression and do their own "free will," Gorovsky said. "The victims then each committed suicide in a very specific and tragic way."
Mullins and Thomas had told fraternity members that they had depression and that they had stopped taking their prescribed medications and that they had had thoughts of suicide, the suit says. Truman State counseling services emailed Mullins about missed appointments but otherwise didn't follow up, the suit says.
Grosshim was asked by fraternity members to "watch" John Doe 1 _ likely Hughes _ the night before he was found dead Aug. 26 because he was openly making suicidal statements, the suit says. Doe 1 allegedly had blood on his face, chest and forearm and a head injury he didn't have earlier that night.
Grossheim began dating a girlfriend of John Doe 1 in the suit shortly after his death, was seen wearing his clothes and having cash that went missing form his room three weeks earlier, the suit says.
"Numerous AKL members noticed this and were disturbed and upset by it to the point that they reported these concerns about Grossheim to the police," the suit says.
Grossheim also allegedly moved out of the fraternity house after the man's death and into an apartment across the hallway from John Doe 2, the suit says. Grossheim was the last person to see John Doe 2 before he was found dead hanging by Doe 2's girlfriend the next morning. Grossheim was building manager of the apartment and had keys to Doe 2's room, the suit says.
Shortly afterward, Jane Doe was found dead "under suspicious circumstances," the suit says. Grossheim allegedly had stated he was the last person to see Jane Doe alive.
A computer polygraph test police ran that analyzed Grossheim's voice "showed some deceptions," Gorovsky said.
The suit seeks monetary damages that would be determined by a jury.
The lawsuit said that Grossheim, 20, now lives in Alton. He joined AKL in February of 2016, the suit says.
He left Truman State in 2018 but was "not kicked out," Gorovsky said.
Kirksville is about 160 miles northwest of St. Louis. Truman State University has an enrollment of about 6,000 students.
The Xi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Lambda at Truman State lists 20 current members. It was founded in 1953.
