Joseph Smedley was a childhood friend of Nicolai’s when we lived in Indianapolis. He died in 2015 in what police ruled a suicide. His sister Vivianne has been on a crusade to have the case reopened convinced that foul play was involved. From what I know of the facts of the case, I am of the opinion that Joseph died at the hands of one or more members of the Sigma Pi fraternity. The note he left behind in his room, is all you need to study to reach this conclusion. It read: “Had to leave country. don’t try to contact me via cell it won’t works. will contact you once setup overseas. ~Smedley 9/28.” First, this is not a suicide note. It is a note written by someone who wanted to create a narrative where Joseph is nowhere to be found (his body was found in a local reservoir with a book and stone filled backpack strapped to his chest). Second, his sister does not believe it is in his handwriting and it appears to have been written by a left-handed person. Joseph was right-handed. Third, it was dated. Who dates a note like this. It was dated to establish a time line, probably to create an alibi for the perpetrator(s). Fourth, it was poorly written and sloppily scrawled. Joseph was very bright and had excellent penmanship. Fifth, Joseph did not have a passport nor the financial means to leave the country. All of this leads to one obvious conclusion. The note was written by the person(s) who were involved with his death. It was left in the apartment which he shared with fellow members of the Sigma Pi fraternity. He was last seen with members of Sigma Pi on the night of his disappearance. A text with a similar message was sent to his sister on the following morning. It was sent by someone who knew who Vivianne was to Joseph and had access to his phone (which was not found with the body or at his apartment). The coroner ruled the cause of death as drowning. A subsequent autopsy revealed hemorrhaging on Joseph’s back, suggesting to me that he drowned while being held underwater by one or more people who were kneeling on his back. His body was found in 3 feet of water with a pair of binoculars around his neck in addition to the weighted backpack strapped to his chest. There is no way this was a suicide.

I believe Joseph’s death was not premeditated because the cover-up was so ill-conceived. I think the most likely scenario is that he was killed by one or more members of his fraternity either as part of a hazing that went tragically wrong or as the result of an altercation.

Please join me in signing a petition for the police to reopen this case. Details of the case can be found here.