URI student of Cumberland testifies in pub crawl death
2:05 PM Fri, Jan 30, 2009 | Permalink
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Projo 7 to 7 News BlogTaking the news pulse of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, by Providence Journal and projo.com staff, from 7 to 7, every business day |
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Get the 7 to 7 on your mobile at www.projo.com. Twitter: projo | RSS | Email alerts By KATIE MULVANEY A former University of Rhode Island student testified today about the hours and minutes that led up to the death of a Fairfield University valedictorian under the wheels of a bus at a Newport street corner. Jarrad Rocheleau, of Cumberland, described a night of drinking that began before hundreds of URI seniors climbed aboard buses and headed to Newport for a pub crawl in May 20, 2004. Rocheleau left the area of the Rhino Bar and Grille and started walking toward the buses with Loren Welsh, of New Jersey, when Welsh exchanged words with four men in tuxedoes, Rocheleau said under questioning by lawyer Robert D. Parrillo. Welsh approached the men and raised her hand to strike someone, he said. He tried to stop her, but she made contact with somebody, he said. Welsh and Rocheleau were good friends at the time, and remain friends, but have not talked in more than a year. Within seconds a man he later learned was Francis J. Marx V fell to the ground, he said. Under questioning by Welsh's lawyer, Rocheleau later said it was "fair to say" that Welsh had not tried to hit Marx, but one of the other men in formal wear. Marx was in Newport to attend a Wheaton College-sponsored formal dance with his girlfriend. After the dance, Marx and his friends headed downtown to go to a club when they got into a fight with some URI students in town for a pub crawl. Marx either fell or was pushed into Thames Street and run over by a charter bus carrying URI students back to campus. It was three days before his graduation, during which he was set to deliver the valedictory speech. It was day two of a civil trial in Providence County Superior Court in which Welsh and Rocheleau are accused of contributing to the wrongful death of Marx. The suit, filed by the family of the victim, Francis J. Marx V, argues that the two failed to exercise care, which led to Marx's death. The family is seeking $5 million in damages, Parrillo said. 
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