CLU Student Died From Overdose of Alcohol, GHB

Coroner’s officials Monday said a 20-year-old Cal Lutheran University student found dead in his dorm room in late April died from an accidental overdose of alcohol in combination with GHB, a central nervous system depressant sometimes used by bodybuilders and popular at dance clubs.

This is the first GHB-related death in Ventura County, said Jim Wingate, the county’s chief deputy coroner. The combination of alcohol and the drug is most likely what killed Kyle Hagmann, he said. Police earlier suggested the student died from alcohol poisoning.

Hagmann had learned of the drug only a short time before his death, said his father, Anthony Hagmann, of Big Bear City. Hagmann said his son used the depressant primarily for its reputed relaxation effects to achieve a deep sleep in a short amount of time.

Hagmann had been an avid athlete, attending Big Bear High School, where he played on the baseball and basketball teams before enrolling at Cal Lutheran, where he studied athletic training.

Kyle Hagmann was found on a couch in his room at the university’s Conejo dorm by a friend at 8:30 a.m. April 24. Hagmann and the friend had been drinking off campus the previous night. Anthony Hagmann said the most important thing now is that others be made aware of GHB’s dangerous side effects, which can range from extreme fatigue to death.

“He was a top-notch kid,” Hagmann said of his son. “If it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone.”

GHB--an acronym for gamma-hydroxybutyrate--is illegal to sell or possess, except for special test cases approved by the Food and Drug Administration for those with severe sleep problems.