TUF 10's Zak Jensen Sued for Wrongful Death
Zak Jensen has been named as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Minnesota state court. The suit involves an altercation that Jensen had with 20-year-old Josh Gunderson in Mexico during a spring break trip in March 2009 when Jensen was serving as a bodyguard.
Jensen traveled to Puerto Vallarta with Gunderson and 19-year-old Ashley Jones. At some point, while the three were sharing a room, Gunderson allegedly tried to kiss Jones while she was in bed and Jensen pulled him off. From there, accounts differ, ranging from there being no fight to Jensen engaging in a confrontation in self defense.
According to the Pioneer Press's account of the Mexican police report, Jensen stated to authorities:
I grabbed Josh by the shirt and took him off of (her) ... then he went to the bathroom, closed the door, and I stayed with (Jones) consoling her, and after a few minutes, I heard a loud noise," Jensen is quoted as saying in the Mexican police report. "I opened the door and that is when I saw Josh laid out on the floor of the bathroom.
According to a witness statement recounted by the Star Tribune, Jensen told the following to a hotel concierge:
"I was sleeping and I heard Ashley screaming and saying 'Get off of me,' so I got up and I saw Josh on top of her, he was attacking her, I took him away from her and he attacked me so I just defended myself and told him to go away, and he walked in the direction of the bathroom," Jensen is quoted as telling Perez. "We heard a strong noise in the bathroom, so I walked there and I found the boy right there," he told Perez, pointing to Gunderson's body.
In sum, it seems that Gunderson passed out in the bathroom and ultimately died after aspirating his own vomit, but it is unclear whether it was due to his blood alcohol content of .12 or due to an altered mental state resulting from the alleged altercation with Jensen. As with any litigation, it is important to keep in mind that the statements in the filed lawsuit are just allegations and the defendants have not yet had a chance to tell their side of the story in court.
Ashley Jones' father, Jason Jones, and an industrial cleaning company he owns called Sterling Systems are also named as defendants. Jensen was employed by Mr. Jones and/or Sterling Systems to serve as Mr Jones's chauffeur. Accordingly, these defendants could arguably be held liable for Jensen's actions, depending largely on whether the actions were within the scope of Jensen's employment. It is not unusual for a lawsuit to name multiple defendants in the hopes to find someone who is able to pay a damages award or settlement. Here, a business owner presumably has deeper pockets than a 7-3 mixed martial artist.
Jensen recently fought on national television on The Ultimate Fighter. Jensen had no fights between Gunderson's death and his fight on the show. Jensen also serves as a guest blogger recapping TUF 10 episodes for Cagewriter on Yahoo! Sports.
One has to wonder whether Yahoo!, Spike TV, or the UFC knew anything about the incident before putting Jensen in the national spotlight. Gunderson's death did get a fair amount of publicity in his native Minnesota, but early reports did not name Jensen.
