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‘Big brother’ charged in WVU fraternity death

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia University student has been arrested in relation to the Nov. 14, 2014, death of the18-year-old freshman Nolan Burch.

Morgantown Police arrested and charged Richard Schwartz, 20, of Williamsville, N.Y., with one count of hazing and one count of conspiracy to commit hazing, according to a criminal complaint. Schwartz was charged on Wednesday and later released on a $10,000 bond.

 Schwartz and Burch were both from Williamsville, a village of around 5,000 people outside Buffalo, N.Y.

Schwartz, a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity, was Burch’s “big brother” and took part in the “Big/Little” initiation event with Burch.

Schwartz is alleged to have provdied Burch with a bottle of liquor and helped carry him back to the Kappa Sigma Fraternity house where Burch was found unresponsive later that night.

According to Chief of Police Ed Preston, Burch was participating in the “Big-Little” initiation event with the Kappa Sigma Fraternity on Nov. 12, 2014, where fraternity pledges and members drank large amounts of alcohol.

Medical tests performed on Burch after the incident showed his blood alcohol content was 0.493…

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