Two men charged over death of Patriots fan

Patriots fan, Dale Mooney from New Hampshire was 53 years old per reporting by (WJAR) NBC 10, an NBC affiliate in Rhode Island when he was killed on September the 17th, 2023.

Mooney was killed after involving himself in a fight with two men, John Vieira, 59 and Justin Mitchell, 39, both from Rhode Island, while watching the Patriots play the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium

According to he Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, Vieira and Mitchell have been charged with "assault, batter, and disorderly conduct".'

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Per The Independent, the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Mooney's death was not due to traumatic injury, but rather a "medical issue".

Speaking to the Boston Globe, eyewitness Joey Kilmartin told reporters, Mooney had "engaged in mutual combat with another fan" in the stands.

Kilmartin gave a detailed description of events, telling reporters, "a man in the Dolphins jersey reached over and he connected with two punches to the victim’s head. It wasn’t something crazy or out of the ordinary until, 30 seconds later, the guy wasn’t getting up."

Norfolk District Attorney’s Office believes there was a pre-existing issue, possibly, "severe hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease," that could have been triggered by the fight, but ultimately was the cause of Mooney's death.

Investigators initially ruled Mooney's death a homicide, but following the Chief Medical Officer's report, the charges have been downgraded.

Vieira and Mitchel have recently had their initial appearances in court, with Mitchell telling the court, "Of course I'm innocent," per CBS. Mooney's death seems to be an incredibly unfortunate confluence of events, so let's take a look over a timeline of that fateful night at Gillette Stadium

During the week two matchup between the Patriots and Dolphins, Pats fan Dale Mooney was seen arguing with a man wearing a Dolphins jersey before a physical altercation broke out.

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Per reporting from The Independent, a brawl broke out in the stands, with multiple fans throwing punches.

A medical alert was immediately raised and Mooney was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead according to The Norfolk County district attorney.

A fan who was in attendance told NBC 10, “We looked up and we just saw a bunch of people standing around in an area in there...a lot of people that were standing around were filming with their phones.”

That quote came from Keith Noonan, who continued by saying, “No sport is worth, you know, getting physical with anybody”

Initially there were no charges filed due to the nature of the case, with an investigation later finding enough evidence to charge the two men accused of the crime.

During the same game, a different fan had collapsed, needing resuscitation from a local firefighter to regain his pulse. These incidents are unrelated.

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