Millionaire Kills Himself In Court
Straight out of a movie script, a millionaire who was found guilty of arson, appeared to swallow something in the courtroom after the verdict was read. He washed it down with water and the next thing you know he was on the floor unconscious. He was taken to the hospital but it was too late. He had killed himself and he did it in front of an entire courtroom and news cameras.
He was 53 years old and the conviction meant he could spend up to 16 years in jail, but probably would not spend that long. No one was hurt. It seems strange to me that if no one is hurt and you burn down your own home that you face 16 years in jail, but you can kill someone while driving drunk and be out in a year or two at the most. I guess the guy did not want to go to jail and would rather be dead.
42 comments:
WTF, dude? Sixteen years in a white collar prison? His poor family.
Desperation makes people do drastic things, which is probably how he ended up in the situation to begin with. What a shame.
New Florida.
people be crazy
coocoo
No one wants to Ho to jail in Maricopa Co.! That place is insane.
It reminds me of that dude that blew his brains out in the police station after he was arrested for a DUI.
Oops... *go* :)
Setting fire to a building, whether its your own home or not, is a danger to other property and people around it, especially the fire fighters who show up.
This guy obviously had mental health issues.
I feel sad for him, but most especially his family. Prison is a pretty horrific place - and even white collar prisons are not the resort a lot of people seem to think they are.
Funny - you can rape or kill someone and get less time than if you were to abuse money or property. Weird country we live in, that values mammon more than human life.
@ Kraymond19 - is that Sheriff Joe's county?????????????
Enty, "you can kill someone while driving drunk and be out in a year or two at the most".
That's not true. anymore. At least pretend to be a lawyer and do a little google research.Thank you!
His family will be the ones to suffer for the rest of their lives with the what ifs.
How selfish. If you wanna kill yourself go a head but have the common decency to do it in private. I'm sure everyone that witnessed it is traumatized.
Agent It, is that true in every state these days? I feel like I still read about drunk drivers who barely spend time behind bars.
Agent It, I have to agree with Enty on this. I've read plenty of stories of DUI killers getting out in just a few years. It is a state thing, as Trey mentioned.
@Trey
I think you are referring to drunk driving with no injury or death? If so, yes, slap on the wrist unless the state has a 3 strike law.
Drunk driving resulting in death/injury is a different ballgame. It varies state by state and the results are changing to serious convictions (due to efforts of MADD and several other groups).
My cousin's husband killed another driver while driving drunk and was out in a year and had ten years probation.
It's probably going to depend on the DA, previous record, the judge, the jury, etc what the charge and what the sentence will be.
sorry for the length..
If you research your state's laws, you are looking to see if they have felony statutes for "drunk driving causing death" in place.
Billionaire in Fl got 16 years of possible 30 year sentence. (Still not enough, IMO) (John Goodman)
Thank god I don't have to watch those newscasters. Maybe it's an off day over at channel 3 but - ouch!
I love the voiceover: you THINK he ingested something? Really? You just showed us him putting something in his mouth!
I wonder what else he did?
@Agent It, unfortunately I was talking about killing someone while driving drunk. In a lot of states it still doesn't carry the penalty you're talking about, though it's nice to see efforts are being made to change that.
Drunk drivers who kill someone should be charged with second degree murder, IMHO.
This guy ... wow. Really? Dude would have spent a few years in some medium-security prison going to the library and working out. It's not like he was going to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. I feel sorry for his family and the people in the courtroom.
Well, I think this proves Enty is no lawyer...but I do still love him. Who knows if he's really even a dude? I think he's probably a very skinny, very disgruntled PA...
Im with emeye. I think there is alotta ofher stuff that will come out. And if he wants to kill himself, let him. Idk, isnt that his decision? But wth was it, and how did he get it?? Now thats interesting!
There's a family member on my husband's side who set fire to his home when his wife & kids were out. He was in a desperate financial situation; it was quite sad...plus he was a fireman. Go figure. His parents kept it a very good secret for a year, but eventually it came out when my husband saw a news video of his second cousin being convicted of arson. He had to spend five years in jail but got out in just over three. Yes, prison is a terrifying place, that's why you should avoid doing something to put you there. It's a shame that he killed himself in front of everyone. In spite of what he put his loved ones through, I'm sure most of them would still rather have him alive.
And I agree with auntliddy...how did he get it??? I know he wasn't guilty yet when he stepped into that court room, but doesn't someone search these people?
It had to be some sort of tablet(s), that happened really fast.. I want to know what it was and where he got it.. Didn't Hitler also do the same thing? Or was it His GF Ava ?
It's just the logic of american law. Hurt yourself and you could spend life in jail, hurt another and seriously, you could get off with just probation.
'Tis why I pray for the 13.0 to hit everyday. As how can we really flip something that is 360 degrees flipped and sadly quasi functioning totally wrong???
(or a flood for chrissakes, somthing!)
I don't think he took anything. Watch his throat. You should see it bulge if he swallowed something. Then again it could have simply been something that dissolved. It is kind of weird what he's doing with his hands. Hope the toxicology on this guy comes back quickly.
Wonder if he used Cyanide? That's what serial killer Leonard Lake used to kill himself while in police custody. The other wtf detail of that story is the guys use of scuba equipment to exit the burning house. He was quite the planner.
I'm sure he was out on bail and hadn't been sitting in jail so it was probably some kind of poisonous tablet that he chewed to kill himself. He obviously thought about this in advance and had a plan if he was found guilty. There is no way that they are going to search every single person coming into the courthouse for pills like that. Heck I've been on jury duty for the past month and go in and out of the building multiple times a day for breaks and it took them 2 full weeks to figure out that I had a hot pink pepperspray cannister in my purse.
@NewLifeandAttitude, LOL that's hilarious. I go in and forget that I wore a belt and I'm stripping.
Christ.
I'm shocked he got 16 years honestly.
My cousin and her then husband had their home accidentally catch fire twice within a year. After the 2nd fire insurance paid them off and her hubby took all the money, put it in his moms bank account and divorced my cousin. She never got a penny of it and guess who came knocking on their doors about a year later? The state fire marshal and they were both arrested for arson, insurance fraud, and also felony battery(I think that was what it was called) on a firefighter that got hurt in the blaze. She sung like a bird telling them that it was his idea and he told her to put her hair straightener on a towel. He never admitted to anything. She got probation, can't leave the county without prior consent from her PO, and has to payback the money defrauded. Since he never admitted to anything once his sentencing came he got all charges dropped and she now has to pay back all the money not just half. Plus she now has felonies on her record.
Oh I forgot, guess where she works now? At the sheriffs office as a dispatcher
Well, he knew he'd be going into an Arizona prison and, folks, you do NOT want to be incarcerated here!
FYI, it would have been a state prison, not Arpaio's playpen, er, jail.
Too bad Sandusky didn't do the same.
I feel so bad for this guys family. He probably burned the house cuz they needed the money and couldn't pay it and then they lost a source of income to boot, not to mention a husband and father first and foremost.He must have had cynanide. That's the only thing that probably kills so quickly although I am sure our smart readers here will educate me otherwise and I thank anyone in advance for that.
Some sad stories here especially Bobbi's! Wow. That sux.
I'm unfortunately from Maricopa county and just two months ago someone was sentenced to LIFE for a DUI. He was driving the wrong way on a freeway and killed some people, but yeah they don't mess around w drinking and driving here so that's false. Also, joe and tent city is a joke, but I wouldn't want to go there either.
It was actually an Altoid.
I'd rather die than go to prison too; prison would be even worse than Junior High was for me! There's no justice here in Canada either: recently a guy only got 6 YR prison sentence for repeatedly stabbing another guy to death in a fight but an angry homeowner that killed a raccoon that damaged his house is facing a 10 YR sentence!Animals have more rights and legal protection than people do; it's nuts!
Don't speak rubbish Pogue Mahone. Animals have barely any rights at all.
Raccoons are vermin, so what I am reading is that vermin have more rights than those kittens Luka Magnotta killed?
The sentencing is weird and worth looking into -- the news account said he couldn't pay his mortgage (?) so set it on fire. The bank must have pushed for some maximum sentence based on the house being their property is all I can think.
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