2 charged in death following MySpace postings

After a young man died of alcohol poisoning last month, his family's search for answers took them online, where they combed through messages his friends had posted about his death. What they found ultimately led police to file obstruction-of-justice charges against his fiancee and a friend.

Daniel Gjertsen, who did road work for East Brunswick Township, was 21. Police said he was the only reveler of age at a New Year's Eve house party in South Brunswick Township, about 35 miles southwest of New York City, and was responsible for bringing the alcohol. Gjertsen drank heavily that night, eventually passing out.

Someone called from the party at 5:42 a.m. on Jan. 1 to report that Gjertsen had stopped breathing. A medical examiner determined that he had died an hour or two before that. His blood alcohol content was 0.44 percent, more than five times the legal definition of drunken driving.

By the end of the day, Gjertsen's page on MySpace, the social networking Web site that boasts 150 million members, had its first memorial message.

Gjertsen's family started following the comments posted on the page, as well as those of his friends. Some of what they read was troubling, according to a lawyer retained by Gjertsen's mother and a police officer who investigated the death.

There was an apology from one friend, who said he was sorry there was so much liquor; another seemed to read like a defense, asserting that Gjertsen did not drink more than he usually did. Friends who were not at the party posted messages saying they were upset that more was not done to keep Gjertsen alive.

And there were references to a video taken at the party with images of Gjertsen having passed out. The family told South Brunswick Police Detective James Ryan about it.

When police asked the woman and girl who were said to have shot the video about it, they at first denied there was one, Ryan said. Eventually they acknowledged that it did exist, and the detective got a copy.

On Tuesday, the department charged the two - Yajaira Flores, 20, of Clark, and a 17-year-old Roselle girl whose name was not released because of her age - with obstructing justice.

Flores, who was Gjertsen's fiancee, was released on $500 bail. The disorderly persons offense she is charged with carries a maximum offense of six months in jail.

In an e-mail message yesterday, she said she would not comment besides to say "just that I love him."

The charge against the teenager is being handled in the juvenile justice system. She is not in custody.

The case is one of a growing number in which police investigators have made use of postings on MySpace, a public site where people often say things previously voiced only in private.

In recent months, for example, a Virginia man was arrested on drug charges after his brother's MySpace posting referred to marijuana they had grown.

Several threats against schools also have been discovered.

Ryan said it was clear early on that Gjertsen's death was an accident, but police continued to investigate to provide answers to the family. He said police were troubled that Flores and the teenager at first did not seem to be taking the investigation seriously, at one point posting photos they took of themselves at the police station on a MySpace page, labeled "mug shots."

The video - which shows Gjertsen alert around 8 p.m., heavily inebriated at 11:30 p.m. and asleep by 12:30 a.m. - was important in putting the timeline in place, he said.

Gjertsen's mother, Lillian Gatti, has hired a lawyer.

"We're just very, very concerned about this terrible tragedy and want to know all the facts that surround the event," said lawyer Howard Teitelbaum. "There remain so many unanswered questions."