Companies Cleared in Amusement Park Deaths

A jury acquitted Great Adventure amusement park and its parent company, Six Flags Corp., of manslaughter and aggravated manslaughter Saturday in the fire deaths of eight teen-agers in a haunted house attraction.

After 13 hours of deliberation after a two-month trial, the jury found both firms not guilty of recklessly causing the eight deaths on May 11, 1984, “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life.” They also were acquitted of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

It was the first time in New Jersey that a corporation has been tried on charges of criminal behavior that resulted in deaths.

Defense attorney Michael E. Wilbert said he hoped the verdict would cause prosecutors to pause before pressing charges in similar cases. “I think the emotionalism of the incident forced a criminal trial when it was a civil situation from the outset,” he said.

The two firms, which had faced possible fines of up to $300,000 each, spent $6 million on their defense. Defense attorneys said the companies did that rather than strike a plea agreement “as a matter of principle.”

The youths were trapped inside the Haunted Castle, one of the park’s most popular attractions, when the fire started on a Friday night. About 20,000 patrons were at the Northeast’s largest amusement park as temperatures inside the 17 metal trailers that made up the attraction reached 2,000 degrees.

The prosecution contended that the firms ignored advice by consultants recommending installation of smoke detectors and a sprinkler system in the Haunted Castle.

The defense argued that such measures would not have made a difference in the fast-moving fire and said the management relied on the advice of local officials that safety codes had been met.

Joseph Beyroutey Sr., whose son, Joseph Jr., was one of the fire’s victims, said of the verdict: “It was ridiculous. I can’t understand it.”

Families of the victims have filed multimillion-dollar lawsuits against Great Adventure and Six Flags.