Police are investigating the death of a Patriots fan that occurred after an “incident” during the team’s 24-17 loss against the Dolphins on Sunday night.
Dale Mooney, a 53-year-old Patriots season ticket holder, died after what witness Joey Kilmartin described as a confrontation between the Newmarket, N.H., resident and a fan clad in a Dolphins jersey.
“In a nutshell, it was a basic argument back and forth,” Kilmartin told the Boston Globe in a telephone interview. “[Mooney] went over to Section 311 and he basically engaged in mutual combat with another fan. A lot of people started trying to pull them apart. … It looked like somebody was in the middle of them and then a man in the Dolphins jersey reached over and he connected with two punches to the victim’s head.”
It wasn’t something crazy or out of the ordinary until, 30 seconds later, the guy wasn’t getting up.
Kilmartin detailed that he did not know Mooney but that both were sitting in Section 310 before the fight broke out. He also acknowledged that Mooney and the fan in the Dolphins jersey — who Kilmartin described as “in his 30s with a salt-and-pepper beard” — had been verbally sparring throughout the game.
While Kilmartin didn’t pay attention to what was being said, Dale’s wife, Lisa…
