** MAN SLIDES HIS TROMBONE & KILLS MUSICIAN IN FRONT OF HIM! **
By Randy Jeffries/Weekly World News (January 23, 1996)
Bocholt, Germany -- A band musician died of a brain injury when
the trombonist behind him jerked the slide of his trombone forward and
struck the trumpeter in the back of the head!
Police say the tragedy occurred as the Gratzfeld College band was
rehearsing the spirited American jazz classic, _When the Saints Go
Marching In_.
According to other band members, trombonist Peter Niemeyer, 19,
"got carried away" with the music. He started gyrating and thrashing
around as he played.
At one point, he jerked forward and the rounded metal slide on
his instrument hit trumpet player Dolph Mohr, 20, dropping him
instantly to the floor.
"Niemeyer was pumping the slide very hard," said medical examiner
Dr. Max Krause. "But it wasn't just the force of the blow that killed
Mohr.
"The slide struck him in the worst possible place -- the
vulnerable spot just behind and below the left ear.
"Bone fragments pierced his brain, killing him instantly."
The incident has provoked a storm of controversy over whether or
not American jazz should be played in German colleges.
"I believe the music is to blame," said Gratzfeld band director
Heinrich Sommer. "I was pressured to play that selection by school
administrators. But I've always said jazz is dangerous music,
"Our musicians can't control themselves when they play it. They
move and rock back and forth, creating chaos. If I had my way,
American Dixieland would be outlawed in Germany. I've been directing bands
for 30 years and I've never heard of anyone dying while playing a
German march."
