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8 men charged with beating
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by Megan Costello
Friday, November 19, 2004
Eight men, including five current University of Wisconsin students, were charged in Dane County court Wednesday with the beating of another UW student.
The eight men allegedly beat Robert Hillis July 14, 2004 so badly that he required plastic surgery to rebuild his broken nose.
The men were charged with substantial battery and criminal trespass, of which substantial battery is considered a felony offense.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the eight men broke into Hillis’ apartment at the Embassy, 505 University Ave., where they assaulted him.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Dane County Circuit court, the eight men beat him up in retribution for an incident that had occurred earlier in a downtown bar.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Hillis exchanged words with the others earlier on the night of his assault. This information was related to the eight men involved in the assault who found Hillis’ at his apartment.
At the time of the crime, all eight men were UW students and they were all members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, 237 Langdon St..
The men involved in the beating are Joshua P. Bolton, 22; Daniel P. Burke, 21; Timothy S. McCafferey, 21; Octavieus C. Manadier, 21; Gregory T. Ney, 20; John W. Nichol, 20; are all students and of Madison. Two graduates, John R. Brickley, 22, of Bloomington, Minn., and Michael A. Pucci, 23, of Milwaukee, were also involved in the fight, according to police.
Manadier did not make court appearance Wednesday and a warrant for his arrested has been issued, according to court documents.
The pre-trial conference for the attackers will be held Dec. 6.
Anonymous (November 19, 2004 @ 9:22am):
See the Greek system is full of thugs!!
Anonymous (November 19, 2004 @ 11:01am):
COMMENT REMOVED: Inappropriate language and/or content
Anonymous (November 19, 2004 @ 12:24pm):
Expulsion for these students immediatley. Very simple, you do not want people like this in your university.
Anonymous (November 19, 2004 @ 2:08pm):
I know several of these guys and pledged with two of them. They will undoubtedly be punished by the fraternity (expulsion) and the legal system (facing felony charges). While their actions were completely out of line (breaking into someone's apartment after having time to cool off is inexcusable), I disagree that they should be expelled from the university. The first two posts are simply biased anti-Greek System ranting. While I was at UW, these guys acted as ideal gentlemen who were involved in many philanthropies. I can't imagine what justification my brothers thought they had to commit such an unconscionable act. However, ruining any future they may still have or condemning the entire Greek system is not the answer.
Also (in response to the second post), no one EVER deserves to be physically or sexually assaulted.
Anonymous (November 19, 2004 @ 2:46pm):
Hahahaha, Way to screw that one up boys! What kind of idiots ARE you?
Anonymous (November 19, 2004 @ 7:32pm):
I'll bet they voted for Kerry, those hell-bound heathen babykillers.
Anonymous (November 19, 2004 @ 8:37pm):
"I'll bet they voted for Kerry, those hell-bound heathen babykillers."
Your mother
Anonymous (November 20, 2004 @ 12:33pm):
In response to the guy who said that he knows them and says that this is does not reflect badly on the Greek System. While I respect your point about these young men as being "ideal gentlemen" and it is probably accurate, I do know one of the men charged and was as shocked as I am sure you were. This incident does nothing if it does not show the problem with the mob mentality that naturally comes with being Greek. I'm not going to simply condemn the entire Greek system for the acts of a few people but to say that this was not at least organized by the fraternity, not in an official capacity, is absurd. Whether the University decides to take action against these men is their choice entirely I do not know what their policy is but the University needs to take action on the specific Fraternity. While I would like to hear the side of the men charged it is nothing but thugery.
Anonymous (November 20, 2004 @ 6:39pm):
Oh yes they should be expelled! I'm sick and tired of hearing the shallow excuses made for these frat boys. Do they honestly think that they can do anything they want and get away with it every time? I don't care what these frats claim they do for the the community. Nothing could justify what they did.
The fraternity should also be banned from the university as well. Too bad if they feel like they're being ganged up on. That's exactly what some of their member did to someone else, so why should they get off light?
Anonymous (November 20, 2004 @ 6:52pm):
"However, ruining any future they may still have or condemning the entire Greek system is not the answer."
Oh, but it's perfectly OK for them to ruin the life of the guy they attacked, huh? I say let's ruin their futures in every which way possible! And let's enjoy it while we're at it, just like they enjoyed what they did. It's time these rowdy-ass fraternities got THEIR butts kicked for once.
Anonymous (November 20, 2004 @ 9:15pm):
"While I was at UW, these guys acted as ideal gentlemen who were involved in many philanthropies."
Why don't you re-enroll and babysit them, if you're so concerned? I say expel them. There is no excuse for what they did. I'm sick and tired of hearing you poor whiny frat brats complain about anti-Greek bias. I don't care what you morons do for the community! You cause far more harm than good. Time to pay what's due.
Anonymous (November 20, 2004 @ 10:17pm):
I agree that the eight who beat the guy up should be charged as felons and expelled, but I also believe that college students in general are cut way too much slack by the justice system. Judges are too reluctant to impose stiff penalties on students because they don't want to screw up the kid's life. Well hey kids, if your future is that important to you, then stay the hell out of trouble!
Just because you're college students means you should get off light. Do you think you'll get off light for the same offenses after you graduate? Give one good reason why there should be a different set of rules for students. Any college student who commits felony assault is obviously not ready for college. Throw the book at 'em!
Anonymous (November 21, 2004 @ 4:00pm):
Octavieus C. Manadier is not a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. Please examine the details to accurately report the news.
Anonymous (November 21, 2004 @ 4:24pm):
Having full knowledge of the story, I would recommend that the author, Megan Costello, re-examine the facts of the story, explicitly stating who was directly involved to show the exact actions of each person involved. In addition, it would be quite appropriate to report the charges imposed on each member, which would reveal the justice system's decision, which would perhaps be the most accurate, on people at fault and why. Finally, inaccurate details plague the story as both Michael Pucci and John Brickley graduated in May 2004. Therefore, the two aforementioned men are not "current students" of UW-Madison, as they are obviously alumni. In response to an earlier comment, it is true that Octavieus C. Manadier is not a member of UW-Madison's Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter.
Anonymous (November 21, 2004 @ 4:50pm):
"Having full knowledge of the story, I would recommend that...Octavieus C. Manadier is not a member of UW-Madison's Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter."
Who friggin' cares about all that! All we care about is that they are all charged with felonies and that they are all expelled. So what if a few details got skewed. Is that supposed to be really important? Why don't you worry about the victim? Look what he has to go through now? Where the hell are your priorities, pal?!
Eight students decided to show the whole world what a bunch of reckless pussies they are by ganging up on one guy in his own home, and all you care about is trivial crap like when they graduated or whether they were frat members! In any case, put 'em away for a long time!
Anonymous (November 21, 2004 @ 7:39pm):
Interesting how you think that you can judge people based on false information. If the world thought like you, innocent people on death row would die everyday... I seriously hope you don't go to become a lawmaker one day. If you would just take the time to look into the situation, you would LEARN and REALIZE that Octavieus caused almost all of the damage inflicted on Mr. Hillis. Many of the others present came along because they were misinformed about the situation because they were told that some girl was being beaten... and decided to take initiative to rescue her. When they realized the realities of the situation, many of those present actually played a major role in ending the situation before it got worse.
I would say that your ignorance to the situation is quite disturbing. Therefore, there are things we call INVESTIGATIONS to find those at fault! For example, if you collided with another car and caused an accident, the situation must be analyzed to see what might have caused the accident. It might have been caused because you swerved to avoid another accident or because you were having an asthma attack. DO NOT assume fault on those who are associated with the situation without knowing the facts.
Finally, I agree that those at fault should be prosecuted to the furthest extent possible. This means that those proven to be at FAULT should be prosecuted with evidence, not just on shallow attitudes. I am sure that if you were caught in this situation and you were an innocent associate, you would greatly appreciate if others were willing to look into your innocence.
Anonymous (November 21, 2004 @ 8:23pm):
"I am sure that if you were caught in this situation and you were an innocent associate, you would greatly appreciate if others were willing to look into your innocence."
Yeah, I'm sure the responding officers took all that into consideration before deciding to file charges. Did YOU ever stop to think about THAT? Hey, if I were shallow, I'd believe that the poor frat rats were being singled out because they were Greek. Profiling? I don't think so.
Anonymous (November 21, 2004 @ 9:55pm):
I betcha if Steve McQueen were alive today he'd mow those bastards down with his '68 Mustang! Steve was the man! He didn't take no B-S from nobody. And he knew karate too. WHAP! CHOP! Haiyyyyyyyyyy-YAH!! Them dudes would be sprawled out all over the lot as soon as they got out of their cars. Don't mess with Steve McQueen cuz he's the man!
Anonymous (November 22, 2004 @ 5:51pm):
"Profiling? I don't think so".
First of all there is no defense for the alleged actions that transpired. However, to profile this as a Frat Sponsored Blood fest is ignorant. First of all this event occured over the summer when only a small % of members were even in Madison. Furthermore if you actually read the police report, you will see only 2-3 members were inolved in any physcial assult.
"I don't care what you morons do for the community! You cause far more harm than good."
-One incident does not qualify as more harm than good. Across the board if you take all student crimes/misdemeanors/felonies at UW and reference which involved members of the greek system, you will see that the % of Greeks involved is exponentially lower. However, it is popular to blame Greeks for the damnation of society so of course this story got press time even though it happened MONTHS ago.
"but to say that this was not at least organized by the fraternity, not in an official capacity, is absurd."
-just because you are in a house does not mean you take orders from some hierarchy or something. This was not a frat thing, rather an incident involving a group of irresponsible friends. No one is defending the actions, but to generalize over 10% of the students on campus as irresponsible reckless brawlers is foolish.
Anonymous (November 22, 2004 @ 5:52pm):
"Profiling? I don't think so".
First of all there is no defense for the alleged actions that transpired. However, to profile this as a Frat Sponsored Blood fest is ignorant. First of all this event occured over the summer when only a small % of members were even in Madison. Furthermore if you actually read the police report, you will see only 2-3 members were inolved in any physcial assult.
"I don't care what you morons do for the community! You cause far more harm than good."
-One incident does not qualify as more harm than good. Across the board if you take all student crimes/misdemeanors/felonies at UW and reference which involved members of the greek system, you will see that the % of Greeks involved is exponentially lower. However, it is popular to blame Greeks for the damnation of society so of course this story got press time even though it happened MONTHS ago.
"but to say that this was not at least organized by the fraternity, not in an official capacity, is absurd."
-just because you are in a house does not mean you take orders from some hierarchy or something. This was not a frat thing, rather an incident involving a group of irresponsible friends. No one is defending the actions, but to generalize over 10% of the students on campus as irresponsible reckless brawlers is foolish.
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 2:18am):
Seriously, guys... if you knew Bobby Hillis, you'd probably want to beat him up too. Anyone? Anyone?
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 10:00am):
yeah Hillis is a tool. It was only a matter of time before someone took him down. Kid thinks he can say whatever he wants without retrobution. SigEps are tools, but they got it right on this one.
Anonymous (November 23, 2004 @ 10:12am):
"Yeah, I'm sure the responding officers took all that into consideration before deciding to file charges. Did YOU ever stop to think about THAT?"
-According to the justice system one is innocent until proven guilty. This nonsense that just becuase one is charged with a crime makes them guilty is absurd. I love how you gdi hippie tools are quick to condemn fraternity members to guilt while at the same time take up issues such as abolishing the death penalty. Your contradictions of guilt and innocense are tailored to your own thwarted view of the world. Under your logic, anyone charged with a crime would be guilty. Fortunately these gentlemen have a team of lawyers to get them out of this overhyped gdi induced fraternity witch hunt.
