OLYMPIA — Two men have been charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the 2023 death of a student at The Evergreen State College.
Frank McCutcheon, 53, and Brett McCutcheon, 32, have been accused of causing the death of Jonathan Rodriguez, a 21-year-old student from Dupont who died from carbon monoxide poisoning on Dec. 11, 2023.
The two men are alleged to have improperly installed air intake and exhaust venting for a new tankless water heater inside an on-campus modular apartment, Unit No. 305, where Rodriguez and other students resided, according to court records.
The men, who were employed by Olympia Sheet Metal at the time, installed the water heater about a week before the poisoning.
“That deficient installation caused the death of Jonathan Rodriquez by introducing into the residence levels of carbon monoxide over 20 times the acceptable limit,” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Filak wrote in a probable cause statement.
The poisoning also caused the hospitalization of two female students, then ages 19 and 20, as well as a responding Evergreen police officer, according to a March report from the Washington State Patrol, which investigated the case.
The Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Frank and Brett McCutcheon on July 11 after being forwarded a State Patrol report on the investigation.
Frank McCutcheon attended his arraignment hearing in Thurston County Superior Court on Tuesday. He pleaded not guilty and was allowed to be released on his personal recognizance, according to Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Tara Tsehlana.
Brett McCutcheon’s arraignment was delayed until Sept. 3, Tsehlana said.
The State Patrol report cited the improper installation of the water heater as the cause of the carbon monoxide leak. Carbon monoxide detectors sounded off at the unit, but the report says Evergreen staff treated them as faulty and silenced them.
State Patrol also determined Evergreen employees and residence maintenance personnel lacked training or understanding of the function of the fire alarm and carbon monoxide systems.
The report came out after State Patrol hired Bison Engineering, a Texas-based forensic engineering firm, to investigate the incident.
‘Higher-than-normal’ carbon monoxide
The probable cause statement describes the investigation from the perspective of law enforcement.
A State Patrol detective responded to the apartment unit on Wild Currant Loop Northwest on Dec. 11 to investigate.
Residents informed maintenance staff about carbon monoxide alarms going off earlier in the day. Due to the drive time, the statement indicates a technician responded to the unit later that evening and found multiple unconscious students.
The detective learned that a new tankless water heater had been installed between Dec. 1-5, 2023, and he obtained an invoice from Olympia Sheet Metal. The invoice listed Frank and Brett McCutcheon as well as a third employee as the people who handled the project.
An Evergreen maintenance worker told the detective that Frank and Brett McCutcheon conducted the installation. The third employee was listed as a delivery person on the invoice, according to the statement.
A certified Professional Engineer for Bison Engineering investigated the installation of the tankless water heater. His examination determined that no outside combustion air was provided for the heater, which resulted in “higher-than-normal” carbon monoxide concentration, according to court records.
Additionally, the engineer determined exhaust piping was not sealed and properly connected, causing highly contaminated air to spill back into a utility room.
The engineer restarted the boiler and noted it operated without malfunction. However, the statement indicates carbon monoxide levels increased throughout the building to as high as 1,294 parts per million in the air of the residential area.
The permissible exposure limit for carbon monoxide is 50 parts per million over eight hours, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The engineer said the deficient installation was outside the accepted practice in the field, according to the statement. He reportedly deemed it a “negligent installation” that did not comply with the installation manual.
Based on the engineer’s report, the statement describes the installation as a “gross deviation from what reasonable people in the same situation would do.”
Brett McCutcheon is a certified contractor with 3,296 hours in the HVAC/RFRG specialty, according to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industry. Frank McCutcheon does not appear to have a current certification.
