CONVICTION OVERTURNED IL - Pravin Varughese, 19, Siu Student, Carbondale, 12 Feb 2014

[OkieGranny]

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/26133440/mother-of-siu-student-to-file-wrongful-death-lawsuit

The mother of a Southern Illinois University student found dead in February says her family will be filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the man who was last seen with Pravin Varughese the night he died.

Lovely Varughese says she also plans to file a lawsuit against the city of Carbondale...

His mother says she's tired of hearing different stories about the night her son died, so she hopes these lawsuits will help her get the answers she's looking for.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/p...cle_ae61f4ed-232b-540d-a207-0e8fa4545d96.html

The mother of the 19-year-old SIU student found dead in woods off Illinois 13 in February has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver of the vehicle he was last seen riding in the night of his death. The lawsuit seeks more than $1 million.

Lovely Varughese, the mother of Pravin Varughese, said money is the not important factor. "Pravin's smile is worth more than that," she said. "This is the only way we felt we could get the answers we wanted."

 

[OkieGranny]

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81125279/

Downstate Carbondale has fired its police chief, who was recently sued by the family of a Southern Illinois University student from Morton Grove who died under mysterious circumstances in February. Chief Jody O’Guinn was dismissed effective Monday, according to a statement posted on the city’s website.

The statement by City Manager Kevin Baity called the dismissal “a confidential matter” that “has nothing to do with the unsolved cases or recent litigation filed against the City and the Chief. Any assumptions/allegations to this effect are completely unfounded.”

 

[RSC]

https://screen.yahoo.com/videos-for-you/morton-grove-mayor-supports-grieving-034800486.html

FYI from today.

 

[Tssiemer]

Thank you!!!! I've NEVER felt right about the outcome of this case.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.indiawest.com/news/globa...cle_7bb4c8c6-7026-11e4-9120-6b8002b76120.html

The family of former Southern Illinois University student Pravin Varughese filed a formal complaint this week with the Department of Justice, stating that Carbondale, Ill., police had botched the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the young Indian American man’s death last February.

The complaint has also been filed against the Illinois State Attorney’s office.

 

[AngelaH]

http://m.kfvs12.com/kfvs12/db_349220/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=iVmi24Tq

 

[neverletgo]

Families seek answers after 2 student deaths in Carbondale
Last updated: March 14. 2015 3:46PM
ALAN SCHER ZAGIER Associated Press

Snipped:

Varughese’s body, clad in a T-shirt and jeans despite single-digit temperatures, was found in a heavily wooded area six days after the party. Witnesses said he had consumed at least six alcoholic beverages before leaving the party.

The driver told police that he hit his passenger in the face only after Varughese hit him as they argued inside the pickup truck. The fight continued as the pair got out of the truck, fell to the ground and rolled down a hill, with Varughese running into the woods as the state trooper arrived, Carr reported.

A county grand jury declined to issue an indictment. “Speculation, suspicion and rumors may help in developing investigative leads and evidence, but are inadmissible in courts of law and … can never replace facts,” Carr said in his report.

http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/ne...-answers-after-2-student-deaths-in-Carbondale

 

[OkieGranny]

From September:

http://www.indiawest.com/news/globa...cle_873c9522-51d3-11e5-ac8d-bb5aaa2a6b46.html

The parents of Pravin Varughese... have dropped a $5 million lawsuit against local law enforcement officials in an attempt to get reports, which would lead to an understanding of how their son died.

“Right now, we have no information to go on,” Lovely Varughese, Pravin’s mother, told India-West. Despite several Freedom of Information Act requests, police have not provided the family with reports about the death, citing the pending litigation, according to Varughese. “We will see if they continue to deny our requests, now that the lawsuit has been dropped,” she said...

The family has let stand a suit against Gaege Bethune, the last person to have seen Pravin Varughese on the night he went missing...

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Family Searches for Answers After SIU Student’s Mysterious Death

http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/Family-Searches-for-Answers-After-SIU-Students-Mysterious-Death-368695931.html

Special prosecutor Patrick Delfino, appointed to review the circumstances behind Varughese’s death, is now expected to release the findings of his investigation. The Varughese family, though, claims Delfino is missing key evidence to get to the truth.

Dr. James Michael Jacobi ruled Varughese’s death accidental, noting in his autopsy report “there was an absence of significant trauma.” Prosecutors say Varughese was intoxicated and got a ride from Gaege Bethune. The two got into a fight, according to prosecutors, and Varughese ran into the woods and froze to death.

The bruises clearly visible on Varughese’s forehead led the family to hire Dr. Ben Margolis to conduct a second autopsy. Margolis said his autopsy found the underlying cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. Margolis’s report is now in the hands of the special prosecutor but says the prosecutor has not subpoenaed the tissue samples to see the severity of the wounds or even called him with questions.

Varughese family still looking for answers two years after SIU student's death

 

[neverletgo]

Why did Carbondale student die? Mom presses for answers
Dustin Duncan, Southern Illinoisan
April 22, 2016

The mother of a 19-year-old Southern Illinois University student stood before the Carbondale City Council on Tuesday seeking more answers surrounding her son's death from more than two years ago.

Lovely Varughese, mother of Pravin Varughese, said she felt like it was time for the city leaders to hear her struggle for information since February 2014.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_0e1460e7-5546-518e-8493-269930176f19.html

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

The Varughese family got the police records a few months ago concerning Pravin's death.

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/communities/carbondale/carbondale-hands-over-police-records-to-the-varughese-family/article_50e2075f-845d-58e2-9cb1-fded21e1ac6e.html

Lovely Varughese has finally received part of what she has been looking for from the city of Carbondale.

On Friday, during a meeting with city officials, Varughese received all the police records regarding her son’s death investigation.

Varughese said she isn’t going to release the documents to the public until after the State’s Attorney Appellate Prosecutor's office releases a report.

She didn’t comment about what exactly was in the documents, but did say that she has a clearer picture about how the police handled the investigation.

“Until now, I had no clue what was going on,” she said. “I didn’t know how many investigators were on the case and where they went. It gives me peace that they were doing things.

"Right now, I couldn't be more peaceful with the reports in my hand."

Peaceful Protest Rally “Justice for Pravin” at Daley Plaza, Chicago - July 31, 2016

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/skokie/community/chi-ugc-article-peaceful-protest-rally-justice-for-pravin-a-2016-08-01-story.html

Chicago IL: First time in the History of the Indian community in America, a crowd of more than 200 supporters gathered today outside at Daley Plaza, Chicago on July 29th, 2016 to show support and peacefully protest for the pending case of "Justice of Pravin". This event was heavily publicized on social media platforms for 3 months after a few leaders from the US Indian community noticed that the case for Pravin Varughese was being unfairly handled by the authorities involved in the case.

For the past two years, the family and friends of Pravin Varughese have been working tirelessly to get justice and the truth behind Pravin's death. The unfairness and the falsified reports with innumerous accuracies and blatant attacks on Pravin's character showed unfairness. With the help of community leaders from the US Indian Community in Chicago and this initiative by the Kerala Community in Chicago and around the US, bought together leaders and supporters to peacefully protest for the Justice of Pravin on July 29th, at Daley Plaza,
Chicago from 1:30 to 3:30.

 

[GabrielDelGato]

What's going on with this?

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Varughese family continues to fight for answers

http://www.wsiltv.com/story/34483065/varughese-family-continues-to-fight-for-answers

February 2014 haunts Lovely Varughese, a mother who lost her son. She said time isn't healing anything.

It's been three years since 19 year old SIU student Pravin Varughese was found dead in the woods next to Buffalo Wild Wings. On Saturday, his loved ones traveled from Chicago to his former school.

“Coming back to Carbondale is so painful, but part of me just wants to stay here forever,” Varughese said.

Jackson County authorities ruled his death accidental by hypothermia. But Pravin's family believes there's more to the story.

"There is no way that somebody can walk through without any shoes, middle of the night, with a phone in his hand. How many times we stumbled going there? Why didn't he fall anywhere else?" Varughese said.

Lovely said the case is still open and the family is optimistic as the State's Attorney Appellate Prosecutor's office investigates more.

 

[neverletgo]

Did College Student Pravin Varughese Die Of Hypothermia Or Was He Murdered?
May 31, 2017
by Mike McPadden

Snipped:

The hunt for missing Southern Illinois student Pravin Varughese came to a dreaded conclusion on February 18, 2014. That’s when searchers, led by Varughese’s cousins, discovered his dead body in a wooded area not far from the school’s campus.

Varughese, a 19-year-old sophomore majoring in criminal justice, had disappeared five days earlier, immediately following a “fight” inside the pickup truck of Gaege Bethune, another 19-year-old SIU student.

http://crimefeed.com/2017/05/college-student-cold-case-who-killed-pravin-varughese/

 

[Cubby]

Gaege Bethune, 22, indicted on two counts of first degree murder.


http://www.nbcchicago.com/investiga...IU-Student-Vanished-Into-Woods-434353403.html

 

[Cubby]

http://www.bnd.com/news/local/article161317808.html

Arrested and being held on 1 million bond.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Man arraigned on murder charges in student’s 2014 death, initially ruled exposure

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-arraigned-on-murder-charges-in-students-2014-death-initially-ruled-exposure/

A man accused in the 2014 death of a Southern Illinois University student has entered a not guilty plea on the charges.

Gaege Bethune of Eldorado was arraigned Tuesday in Jackson County Court on first-degree murder charges in the death of 19-year-old Pravin Varughese.

Varughese said she won't worry over whether Bethune is eventually convicted, saying she only ever wanted someone to answer for her son's death in court.

"If the jury decides to let him go, that's fine," she said. "Whatever comes next doesn't really matter."

 

[Dixie811]

Very glad someone is being held accountable. It would have been such an injustice for Pravin's death to never have been ruled more than exposure.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Mystery on Route 13: College student found dead; 2 autopsies show 2 different causes of death

Now the anxiously awaited results of Pravin's autopsy are released, and they are equally shocking to the family.

"The coroner called me and said hypothermia was the reason, no injury," said Lovely.

But Lovely Varughese, a registered nurse, doesn't buy it.

"I saw every single injury on my son, so when the authorities started telling me and the autopsy said there is no injury, I said 'No one can deny my eyes. I saw my son,'" said Lovely.

Pravin's toxicology report comes back negative.

"They tested him for every single drug under the sun, and I knew 100 percent Parvin will come back negative for drugs. Alcohol, these are college kids, so, you know, I wasn't sure. I have never seen him drunk," said Lovely.

The second autopsy concludes that the underlying cause of Pravin Varughese's death is "significant blunt force trauma to the head." And it notes at least "three separate injuries" and a "defensive injury to the right arm." But it says the immediate cause and the manner of death is undetermined pending further investigation.

Zukas agrees that hypothermia is a factor in Pravin's death. However:

"Cause of death and manner of death are two different things," said Zukas. "If it's 19 degrees out and I duct-tape you to a tree, your cause of death is probably going to be hypothermia. But your manner of death is foul because I rendered you unable to get yourself to safety. I feel like that's exactly what the situation is."

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