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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — REAL News Michiana has discovered the South Bend Tribune secretly edited an op-ed months after publication in an apparent attempt to cover up a lie by Probate Judge Candidate Loris Zappia. The stealth edit came only days after a REAL News investigation detailed the lie and used the Tribune’s story as evidence. Despite making changes to the story, nowhere in the updated version did the South Bend Tribune notate any changes had been made.
For nearly 40 years, Loris Zappia has claimed he was a minor when he was involved in a fatal car vs. bicycle crash. It turns out, at the time of the crash, Zappia was in fact 18-years-old. This may seem like a minor oversight, however, records involving minors are not publicly available and the lie about his age appears to have been devised to prevent anyone from looking into the circumstances regarding the case. While Zappia has historically has told people (including RNM’s Clifton French in January of this year) that he was 16-years-old when he hit and killed 55-year-old Basil Thomas, in a “Viewpoint” published on May 22nd in the South Bend Tribune, Zappia claimed he was 17-years-old when he hit and killed the bicyclist. A screenshot taken On August 1st shows the original text of the story.
On August 9th, RNM published our first investigation into Zappia’s lies regarding the case, using the op-ed published in the South Bend Tribune as evidence. Just days later, on August 13th, the South Bend Tribune “updated” the op-ed written by Zappia. The only change in the story is Zappia’s claimed age. The story does not include any disclaimer or notation that a change was made.
RNM reached out to South Bend Tribune Editor Cory Havens for comment on the stealth edit. A copy of that email can be seen below. Havens has not responded.
MORE LIES FROM ZAPPIA
Through RNM’s discovery that Zappia was in fact 18-years-old at the time of the crash, we were able to make public records requests for archived police records where we discovered even more lies being made by the Republican Judicial Candidate.
According to police reports, Zappia and the victim, Basil Thomas (a Brother of Holy Cross), were both headed south on Juniper Road near the intersection of Pendle Road in June of 1983. Reports state Zappia claimed he saw the bicyclist move to the middle lane of traffic at which point Zappia applied his brakes but was unable to stop before hitting Thomas. However, accident reconstruction shows Zappia didn’t apply his brakes until he hit Thomas, with more than 70-feet of skid marks starting at the point of contact.
Fatal Crash Report #138136 06_04_1983 Thomas, Basil Zappia, Lorras (1)_RedactedDownload
In the same South Bend Tribune op-ed published in May where he claimed he was a minor, Zappia also claimed his vision was obstructed by a box truck. That statement is also contradicted by police and witness reports at the time.
“The truck moved out of the way in time to avoid hitting the cycler. I did not.” Zappia wrote in his op-ed earlier this summer.
Nowhere in the police or investigation reports is a box truck mentioned. In fact, Zappia never stated to police or investigators that his vision was obstructed. To the contrary, immediately after the crash, Zappia told police he saw the cyclist heading in the same direction as him before taking up the middle of the lane.
A GRAND JURY
Details from 1983 news reports are limited. They simply describe the crash and, later, a grand jury convening regarding the case. Zappia has been open about the fact that the case went to a grand jury, but has suspiciously given very few details on that as well. You see, a grand jury isn’t just called for no reason at all — there has to be evidence of a crime. Zappia has never answered the question as to why a grand jury was necessary, what alleged crimes he accused of, and what facts or evidence the police uncovered where criminal charges were a possibility. Earlier this year, RNM confronted Zappia about the inconsistencies in his story. He refused to answer any questions. Video of that confrontation can be seen below.
It’s also well known that grand juries are frequently used to get people out of crimes. For instance, prosecutors have historically used a grand jury to get police officers off the hook for alleged crimes. The prosecutor, instead of just charging a suspect, takes it to a grand jury to see if members of the public believe the facts uncovered by the police meet the elements of a crime. However, this process gives the prosecutor a lot of power creating a narrative about what happened behind closed doors — as no victims, defense or witnesses are required to be presented. EVERYTHING is done in a secretive and sealed manner by only the prosecutor, making it very easy for the prosecutor to push the grand jury in one direction or another. This also allows the prosecutor to wash their hands of any charging decision one way or another.
A famous local case of potential grand jury malfeasance involved the death of a 22-year-old woman, Erica Flores, who was killed by a speeding SBPD Officer in 2018. According to an article in the South Bend Tribune at the time, “Presenting the case to a grand jury, attorney Thomas Dixon said, was the ‘preordained way to not get a charge against the officer.’”
So — why would the prosecutor in 1983 potentially be helping an 18-year-old Loris Zappia?
As it turns out, Zappia had a wealthy and influential family. Plus, according to sources, the lawyer he hired was good friends with the prosecutor.
According to multiple sources, Zappia hired Bill Stanley to represent him at the time. Stanley was widely known as the premier DUI lawyer in the region. Stanley was also close friends with the St. Joseph County Prosecutor, Mike Barnes. Barnes also had close ties to the Zappia family. RNM had requested all of Barnes’ campaign finance records to see how much money was donated to his campaigns from the Zappia family and Bill Stanley, however, due to their age, those documents appear to have been destroyed and are no longer available.
Sources also tell RNM, Zappia’s uncle was also an influential politician at the time — working aS the Democrat Party Chair with aspirations to run for Mayor of South Bend.
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Funny how on the bottom of the man’s campaign signs it says “Integrity Matters.”