Families accuse Alton man of encouraging their sons’ suicides in wrongful death lawsuit
The parents of two Truman State University students — who died within a year of each other — accuse an Alton man of encouraging their sons’ suicides, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed this week.
The complaint states Brandon Grossheim, 22, of Alton, was involved in the deaths of five young people between 2016 and 2017, including 18-year-old Josh Thomas and 21-year-old Alex Mullins, whose parents filed the suit Wednesday in Missouri.
Thomas, Mullins and another TSU student who died had been in the same fraternity as Grossheim. The other two people who died were in their early 20s, lived in Kirksville — where the campus is located — and were friends with Grossheim, according to the lawsuit. They all died by suicide.
Mullins was the first young person to die in 2016. By 2017, Thomas was the fourth.
The families allege Grossheim gave his friends step-by-step directions on how to deal with depression, which they believe included suicide.
Grossheim found all the victims’ bodies except for Thomas’, the lawsuit states. A scrap of paper with Grossheim’s name and contact information written on it had been near Thomas’ body, according to the lawsuit.
The university and Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity were also named in the lawsuit because the families say they knew Mullins and Thomas had depression and suicidal thoughts before they died.
In a statement, Warren Wells, the university’s attorney, said TSU denies the allegations.
“We strongly disagree with the allegations as stated in the lawsuit and will defend the suit vigorously,” Wells stated. “As the litigation proceeds, it will become clear that the University is not responsible for the deaths of these students.”
Jeremy Slivinski, the executive director of the fraternity, declined to comment until AKL officials could review the lawsuit and speak with their attorney.
It wasn’t clear as of Thursday whether Grossheim had legal representation.
