Men sentenced in deadly bar fight; prosecuting attorney issues statement

Jasper — Two Pike County men involved in the death of a Dubois man at a Jasper bar in 2013 were sentenced in Dubois Circuit Court today.

Leslie M. Osborn Jr., 24, and Zachary D. Parks, 23, were charged with Class C felony counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with an incident at J.R.’s Bar, 23 Clay St., on October 12 that led to the death of Timothy R. Stafford, 41, of Dubois.

Plea agreements from the two Petersburg men amending the charges to Class D felony counts of criminal recklessness resulting in serious bodily injury were accepted by the Dubois County Prosecuting Attorney’s office last Thursday.

Both men were given a three-year sentence through the Dubois County Security Center. Osborn will serve his three year sentence with one and a half years on adult day reporting and one and a half years on supervised probation. Parks will be in work release for his three-year sentence.

Jasper police arrested Osborn and Parks Thursday, October 17, 2013, after conducting an investigation into the events that occurred Saturday, October 12, 2013 at J.R.’s Bar

According to police, they received a call from the owner of J.R.’s Bar on a non-emergency phone number at about 3 a.m. stating that there had been a physical altercation outside the bar and a man, Tim R. Stafford, 41, of Dubois, was lying on the ground and was unresponsive and not breathing.

When police and emergency medical personal arrived on scene, they found Stafford on the ground bleeding from his nose and mouth. Stafford was not breathing and was still unresponsive.

He was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital and then transferred to St. Mary’s Medical Center by LifeFlight helicopter where he stayed until he was pronounced dead at 7:20 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, October 16, 2013.

An autopsy performed on Friday, October 18, 2013, by the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office determined Stafford died of blunt force trauma to his head.

The night of the incident, initial responders notified Jasper Police Department detective Sgt. Rick Chambers, who responded to the scene of the fight within an hour of it being reported to the police department. Officers began to collect evidence and interviewed witnesses at the scene to attempt to recreate the events that had occurred leading up to Stafford’s final condition.

According to Chambers, the investigation revealed that two unnamed individuals originally walked out of J.R.’s Bar and began to have a verbal and physical altercation. Parks, Osborn, and Stafford went outside while the fight was happening. Parks and Osborn were friends with one of the men in the altercation and Stafford was a friend of the other unnamed man.

Once outside Stafford attempted to intervene in the fight and was confronted by Osborn. The two began to fight and witnesses say Osborn punched Stafford in the face at least twice before the fight was broken up by the owner of J.R.’s Bar.

At that point, Stafford walked over to Parks and attempted to punch him but Parks punched him back, rendering Stafford unconscious.

According to evidence and witness testimony, once Stafford was on the ground, Parks got on top of his unconscious body and began to strike him repeatedly in the face. Bystanders attempted to get Parks to stop by telling him that Stafford was unconscious but Parks continued punching him.

According to witnesses, Osborn also struck Stafford in his torso while he was on the ground unconscious and not breathing. Eventually, Parks and Osborn were separated from Stafford and the Jasper Police Department was notified.

The two men were booked into the Dubois County Security Center at about 4 p.m. and each man posted a $1,000 cash bond later in the afternoon.

A statement from the Dubois County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Crouse regarding the sentencing was received this afternoon. According to the statement, the prosecuting attorney’s office was prepared to conduct a jury trial on September 22, 2014, but shortly before the trial, the defense proposed a possible resolution of charges.

According to Crouse, Parks and Osborn had previously asserted in a court filing that they acted in self defense, based upon their contention that they had walked outside of the bar to observe a fight. During that time, Stafford followed them outside and threw the first punches. Osborn also asserted that his altercation with Stafford had ended and that Stafford’s death was solely attributable to Parks.

Crouse continued, saying that since jury trials do not have a guaranteed outcome, and, after much soul searching, Tim Stafford’s family stated the uncertainty that Parks and Osborn could be found not guilty was too much for them to endure.

According to Crouse, the certainty of criminal convictions through a plea agreement would help them find some small amount of peace and comfort.

Letter from Dubois County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Crouse

There seems to be a tremendous amount of misinformation related to the criminal convictions of Zachary Parks and Leslie Osborn that I feel the need to address.  I want to first say that our hearts go out to the Tim Stafford family, and that there is no sentence that would adequately compensate for Tim’s death.

We were prepared to conduct a jury trial of Parks and Osborn scheduled to begin September 22.  Shortly before the scheduled start of the trial the defense proposed a possible resolution of the charges.

Parks and Osborn had previously asserted in a court filing that they acted in self defense, based upon their contention that they had walked outside of the bar to observe a fight, that Stafford had followed them outside, and that Stafford had thrown the first punches.  Osborn also asserted that his altercation with Stafford had ended, and that Stafford’s death was solely attributable to Parks.

It is not disputed that Parks landed a punch that appeared to knock Stafford out, and that Stafford fell backwards and struck his head on the parking lot.  This blunt force impact was likely the fatal blow.

There are conflicting witness accounts about what happened then, but the most reliable information is that Parks and likely Osborn landed one to four additional blows after Stafford was down.

I believe that Parks and Osborn committed the offenses charged, and that even if Stafford did what they allege it does not justify his death.  However, jury trials are uncertain.

Tim Stafford’s family has been at every hearing.  After much soul searching they decided that the possibility that Parks and Osborn could be found not guilty was not a risk they were willing to take, and that the certainty of criminal convictions through a plea agreement would help them find some small amount of peace and comfort.

The Stafford family was involved in the plea negotiations, and they thanked me for my efforts following the sentencing hearing. This was not the resolution that anyone would have preferred, but it provides the Stafford family with the closure that they want and need.