DENVER -- Investigators hope an autopsy performed Monday will give them a better idea as to why a 20-year-old Colorado State University student died over the weekend.

The blood-alcohol level of Bennett Bertoli was 0.124 percent, according to the county coroner's office. That's not enough to cause death, but is over the legal limit for intoxication. Police are waiting for further toxicology tests.

Bertoli's cause of death will be determined by the forensic pathologist, which could take several weeks.

The Freshman was found dead on a couch Saturday morning after a house party thrown by one of the six guys living in the house.

Witnesses told 7NEWS that Bertoli arrived at a house at 1201 S. Shields Street across the street from the Fort Collins campus around 2:30 a.m., after he had attended a concert.

Partygoers said Bertoli showed up already drunk, with a bottle of whiskey, and was bragging about taking Xanex, a prescription drug for anti-anxiety that has become a popular way to get high at CSU.

"He reported to one of my friends that he did about 100 pills of Xanax in the last week," said a CSU student who wished to remain anonymous. He said some students crush the pill and then snort it through their nose.

"A lot of times when you do Xanax, you black out when you're still awake, and you can black out for up to 18, 24 hours. I've seen kids have no memory," the partygoer said.

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Partygoers Say CSU Student Came To Party Already Intoxicated

He said alcohol just intensifies a person's high on Xanax.

"He was not only drunk but he was definitely high on Xanax and on cocaine," the partier said of Bertoli.

Fort Collins police won't say whether drugs or alcohol played a role in Bertoli's death. Investigators hope to interview as many of the people at the party as possible.

Neighbors say the house is known as a party house and people at the party told 7NEWS that there was drinking and drug use at that party. About 50 students were there, letting loose before finals week.

Bertolli, a 2002 graduate of Mullen High School in Denver, has had a history of problems with alcohol, authorities said. In November, he was cited twice for underage possession of alcohol and he had been cited for drinking and driving and marijuana possession in 2002. He was sentenced to a year of probation and 24 hours of community service after pleading guilty to driving while ability impaired.

On Sept. 5, 19-year-old CSU sophomore Samantha Spady died after a night of heavy drinking. Eleven days later, University of Colorado student Lynn Gordon Bailey, 18, died from alcohol poisoning.

Then in October a Colorado College student, Amanda Morrison, 20, died when she fell from her dorm window. She had a blood-alcohol content level of .22. Three days after that, 19-year-old Jason Bannick of Centennial, a Fort Lewis College student, was killed after being hit by an sport utility vehicle as he walked down the middle of a highway with alcohol in his system.

Joseph Michael Osborne, a 24-year-old student at the Colorado Mountain College campus in Steamboat Springs, also died from alcohol poisoning. And the youngest victim, 18-year-old Nick Trout, a senior at Florence High School, died Dec. 3 with an estimated blood alcohol level of .404.

CSU President Larry Penley formed an alcohol task force to examine alcohol and substance use and abuse in the campus community. Their report is expected to be released Feb. 1. University officials will be delivering a letter to students Monday about Bertoli's death. and walk through campus neighborhoods this week to distribute information about alcohol poisoning.

With seven student deaths in Colorado this year blamed on alcohol, state lawmakers are considering imposing tougher penalties on the adults who supply alcohol to minors. A state representative from Fort Collins has said lawmakers want to send a strong message that alcohol can be deadly.

Bertoli's funeral is set Friday. He was the son of Bennett L. Bertoli, part owner and vice president of real estate for Sunflower Market, a low-priced natural grocery retailer.