Ten staff fired over ridiculous radio water competition

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Friday, 19 January 2007

5 on air DJs and 5 other staff have been fired from Californian radio station KDND 107.9 FM following the ‘Hold your wee for a Wii’ fiasco, followed up by a criminal investigation and a threat by the affected family to sue.

Audio recordings of shows following the death of the 28-year old woman, Jennifer Strange, who died from water intoxication after failing to win the main prize of a Nintendo Wii and winning second prize tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert, have prompted a spokesperson from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s department to say they have launched an investigation.

According to Gamespot, Sgt. Timothy Curran said that: "We have decided we will open a death investigation which will take weeks and on conclusion our findings will be forwarded to the local district attorney to decide whether to lay criminal charges."

The audio recordings, which are now available on the Internet, feature the now-fired DJ’s joking about contestants dying of water intoxication before the death of Jennifer Strange.

In one instance, the DJ’s talk about the death of Matthew Carrington, a California State University student in the city of Chico, who died after drinking too much water during a fraternity hazing – a type of initiation ceremony that college students play on each other.

Despite listeners calling in to warn the DJs that the stunt could be fatal before the death of Jennifer Strange took place, the DJ’s responded that: “"Yeah, we're aware of that.”.

Another DJ is reported to have said that “Yeah, they signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK.”

The family of Jennifer Strange is now wanting to sue the radio station so a similar tragedy can be avoided, as Strange’s three children are now without their mother.
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