Every complicated story has its villain. When Len Bias overdosed on cocaine the fingers pointed at Brian Tribble. He was the only one in the room in Washington Hall that wasn't a varsity athlete at Maryland. He was the one who had purchased the cocaine that lab tests had as being 89% pure, or perhaps twice the limit normally found illegally on the street.
Although he was acquitted on charges of killing Bias, Tribble walked away from the incident feeling invincible.
He was a headliner at East Side, a now-defunct Southwest Washington club, where the taped telephone message said, "Every Tuesday, you're invited to a dance party with Brian Tribble.