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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 4, 2005 Halloween death due to asphyxiation Alcohol a factor as man choked on his own vomit By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Steven A. Burkemper moved to Ashland in late September to attend Rogue Community College. Eventually, he wanted to study theater at Southern Oregon University. But early on Halloween night, the 26-year-old asphyxiated in a narrow breezeway in downtown Ashland. More than a day later, a pedestrian noticed his body under a motion-sensor light hung from the Trinity Episcopal Church. “The manner of death is accidental,” Ashland police detective Randy Snow said. “Basically, he caused himself to choke on his own vomit.” Steven Burkemper’s body was discovered Tuesday in a narrow breezeway between the Trinity Episcopal Church and US Bank. Burkemper died on Halloween night. Jennifer Squires | Ashland Daily Tidings Burkemper, who was originally from St. Louis, Mo., had gone downtown with two friends after hanging around his apartment on Terra Avenue and eating at Taco Bell. “He was here Halloween night,” said Steve Croot, 42, who shared a kitchen with Burkemper. “He was in and out a couple of times.” The trio headed downtown for the Halloween festivities, stopping to drink in the narrow, gravel walkway between US Bank and the church on North Second Street. “We have him out with a couple of friends for about an hour,” Snow said. “They went their own way and he stayed.” The friends left Burkemper sometime before 10 p.m. Shortly after, he vomited and suffocated in it. A passer-by noticed Burkemper around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, but thought the body was a pile of someone’s belongings. When the person walked by that night, he decided to take a closer look and discovered Burkemper’s body against the church in a seated position. There was no indication of a struggle. “This was just a total accident,” Snow said. “He seems to be a very good-natured young man who wouldn’t harm a fly.” Police found alcohol in the alley, but police do not know what Burkemper’s blood-alcohol level was. There is no indication the man used any other drugs on Halloween night. Still, “Alcohol was a contributing factor,” APD deputy chief Rich Walsh said. Co-workers in the Contract Department at Goodwill Industries in Medford, where Burkemper had worked since his arrived in Southern Oregon, remember him as kind and hard-working. “He was very respectful, a very good person,” Sandy Layman, the operations manager at Goodwill. Burkemper was in his first term at RCC. He had previously lived on the Oregon Coast and in California. His death is the first alcohol-induced asphyxiation in the area for several years, according to police. “There’s probably a lot of people out there that need to understand that alcohol can be a dangerous drug,” Walsh said. Burkemper’s death was also the gravest Halloween-related incident in Ashland this year. The presence of four dozen uniformed officers in the downtown area on Monday night curbed the rancorous crowds that had turned violent and destructive in years past. Prior to the discovery of Burkemper’s body, eight people climbing a statue in the Plaza and a fight in front of O’Ryan’s Irish Pub were the most serious police reports. Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams