Radio Station Faces Criminal Probe, Lawsuit

Jan. 18, 2006— -- A homicide investigation is under way, 10 radio station employees have been fired and the three children of 28-year-old Jennifer Lea Strange have lost their mother.

"She was trying to win something for her family that she thought we would enjoy," the woman's husband said in a short statement to news cameras. "We will miss her dearly. She was my girl."

Strange entered a water-drinking contest on Jan. 12 called "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" sponsored by the Sacramento radio station KDND-FM.

The concept was simple: The three disc jockeys running the morning "Rave" program would award a prized Nintendo video game console to the contestant who could drink the most water without having to use the bathroom or throw up.

Strange placed second after drinking nearly two gallons of water. Preliminary findings from the Sacramento County coroner's office indicate the death is "consistent with water intoxication."

Now, Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinnes has assigned homicide detectives to look into Strange's death and the Strange family is expected to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the station. That announcement could come today.

It is possible to drink too much water -- it's called hyponatremia. When the body's balance of salt and water becomes too diluted, it can cause swelling in the brain.

Cells take on extra water and expand. Early signs include headaches and impaired mental function. According to the broadcast of the program, those are exactly the symptoms Jennifer complained of to the disc jockeys during the contest.

DJ: "Jennifer, I heard you were not doing too well."

Jennifer:"My head hurts."

DJ: "Aw."

Jennifer: "They keep telling me it's the water. It will tell my head to hurt and that it will make me puke, but … "

DJ: "Who told you that? The intern?"

Jennifer: "Yeah, it makes you … it hurts, but it makes me feel light-headed."

Judy Linder, a registered nurse listening to the program, was so alarmed that she asked a colleague to call the station to warn them of the contest's dangers.

"She told them you could die from water intoxication," Linder said. "He [the disc jockey] pretty much blew that off and said they signed a release so, so what? Then he said, 'Why don't your guys come down here and do it?' and we said, 'Because we don't want to die.'"

John Geary, general manager of Entercom/Sacramento, the station's parent company, recorded a statement for radio station listeners: "First and foremost, our thoughts and sympathies go out to Jennifer's family and loved ones. I also want to assure you that the circumstances regarding this matter are being examined as thoroughly as possible."

Hours later, a second statement was issued: "Effective immediately the morning program 'The Rave' is cancelled and 10 employees are no longer with the station."

"This is nothing new," said fellow disc jockey Bruce Maiman from KFBK-FM, another station in Sacramento. "I can empathize with what they did…because it's been done hundreds of times."

Water intoxication can be a problem for marathon runners and other athletes who lose and replace fluids rapidly.

But there are other infamous cases tied to stunt behavior. In nearby Chico, Calif., Matthew Carrington, 21, died after drinking excessive amounts of water during a fraternity initiation ritual.

At the time, just over two years ago, news media in Sacramento, including radio stations, reported extensively on the case.

During the broadcast, the disc jockeys appeared to joke about the the possible dangers of consuming too much water and allude to the Carrington story from 2005.

"Yeah, we're aware of that," one of the disc jockeys said.

Another disc jockey said: "Yeah. They signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK."

"And if they get to the point where they have to throw up, then they're going to throw up, and they're out of the contest before they die, so that's good, right?" another disc jockey said.

Sacramento attorney and former U.S. Attorney Bill Portanova said he believes the Chico case will be important to any lawsuit filed against the station.

If KDND-FM reported on Carrington's death, they should have known about the risks. As for the release signed by each of the contest's 18 participants, according to Portanova, "you can't agree in advance to someone's negligence."

He expects there will be an out of court settlement.

There is at least one other recent criminal case involving water intoxication. Jennete Killback forced her 4-year-old daughter to drink a lethal amount of water. The family said it was part of a treatment program for "misbehavior." Killback was found guilty and could spend up to 15 years in jail.

Contestant James Ybarra was one of the last people to talk to Strange. "She was a nice lady," Ybarra said. "She was telling about her family and her three kids and how she was doing it for her kids."

Strange later called her employer to say she would not be coming into work. Co-workers said that she was crying and later asked Jennifer's mother to check on her. She found her daughter's body at the family's suburban home in nearby Rancho Cordova, Calif.

"It's just a terrible thing," said Linder, the nurse who called the station. "The whole thing shouldn't have happened…but maybe other people will have learned from this and it will save more lives."

Tracy Beam, Strange's friend, puts the blame squarely on the station. "People have died form this before, and here we are. We don't have our Jennifer."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.