Interesting story. Yeah, from what I've been able to conclude talking with others, he was a BTC bull to the max, basically taking everyone down with him. Pretty much as you say. Pretty irresponsible. Crazy because with just a tiny hedge at some point along the way he could have been doing extremely well.
While I've gotten screwed all over in crypto, one place I didn't is with Dean. I got in early when things were good, left around the beginning of his first ICO

Good to know you got in and out at the right time. It is very painful when getting scammed so if you won this one I am happy for you.