Steve Smick Commits Suicide at Altar of Pastor Robert H. Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral

There is more drama following Pastor Robert H. Schuller and his Crystal Cathedral. Apparently Steve Smick, 48, walked into the church Wednesday morning, handed a church greeter a note, then knelt in front of a cross and shot himself in the head, leaving him dead at the altar. All this occurred at a suicide-prevention lecture.

According to the Orange County Register, greeters at the church said a man had shot himself in the head inside the main church. Betty Spicer, one of the greeters, said she welcomed the man as he entered the church asking him where he was from. The man, who had long-hair and was “a bit unkempt,” responded, “Around here,” Spicer said. Then he handed her a piece of paper folded over, with his driver’s license inside. “He was in a hurry,” Spicer said. The note, in bold marker, indicated he’d parked a pickup truck in the parking lot and had borrowed a gun from a friend, Spicer said.

The man went to the front of the church, knelt in front of a large gold cross, reached into a backpack and then put the gun to his head. Spicer said she thought the man was praying before she heard a loud pop. The man had a semi-automatic handgun and fired one round to his head, Lt. Ellsworth said. Source: OC Register

There is no connection between the man and the church. It is just so ironic that he chose that church to kill himself, considering that the same church is embroiled in its own scandal and the slow death of the Schuller dynasty.

Filed under: Apparent Suicide, Crystal Cathedral, Rev. Robert H. Schuller, Robert A. Schuller, Steve Smick

William Foxton, Former British Army Major, Commits Suicide After Losing Life Savings in Mammoth Pyramid Scheme Masterminded by Bernard Madoff

Another victim for financier Bernard Madoff has committed suicide. Retired British army major William Foxton killed himself after losing his life savings in scumbag Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. It’s amazing that the mainstream media managed to bury this for a few days, since it happened on Tuesday.

Here’s my issue with this whole Bernie Madoff scandal — if you steal a $10 item from a store and you are caught with it, you don’t get house arrest. You get jail time, no questions asked. But here we have this dirtbag, who literally robbed his investors blind and he gets house arrest. What’s wrong with this picture? I am also wondering why charges were not brought against Martha Madoff, who moved millions around right before her husband was arrested. Had that been you or I, you know what the outcome would be — clang, clang, the sound of a prison cell.

Police in the English town of Southampton say William Foxton, 65, died from a single gunshot to head on Tuesday and that a pistol was recovered at the scene. An inquest still needs to determine the cause of death, but police in the town, 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of London, say the shooting was not suspicious. Willard Foxton said it was suicide.

William Foxton, who served in the French Foreign Legion and rose to the rank of major in the British army, lost an arm during service in the military. He retired in the 1970s. His son said he did not know the exact circumstances of the injury, explaining that his father told him little about his time in the army.

William later threw himself into humanitarian work, spending the 1990s and early 2000s in the Balkans, where he was a member of the European Commission Monitoring Mission and spent time as a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He also did work for the German charity Arbeiter Samariter Bund, his son Willard Foxton said. Source: Huffington Post

Well, I have no sympathy for Mr. Foxton. He took the selfish and easy way out. I do agree that it is virtually impossible for any of the victims to recoup their money, especially those who have already reached retirement age. Still, you cannot tell me that the only alternative Mr. Foxton had was to pull the trigger and end his life. That behavior displayed a selfishness towards the welfare of his wife and the rest of his family. I guess we know who his god was — the money Bernie Madoff stole from him. Simply shameful.

Filed under: Apparent Suicide, Bernard Madoff, British Army Major, Humanitarian Work, Loses Life Savings, Willard Foxton, William Foxton

George Anthony, Grandfather of Murdered Toddler Caylee Anthony, Found in Hotel Room Despondent After Family Reported him Missing

Well, the drama continues with Casey Anthony and her family. It seems that the death of Caylee Anthony has taken a toll on her grandfather George Anthony. He was found alive this morning in a Daytona Beach motel after his family reported him missing late Thursday. The stress of this whole case is weighing heavily on the parents of Casey Anthony.

Daytona Beach police took Anthony into custody under the Baker Act after finding him in a motel on S. Ridgewood Avenue. The Baker Act allows authorities to hold someone at a mental-health facility for up to 72 hours while they are evaluated by physicians. Anthony, 57, was taken to the Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach where he is being evaluated.

Anthony, reportedly left his home on Hopespring Drive in east Orange County Thursday
morning and failed to show up for a 4 p.m. meeting with his wife, Cindy, and their attorney Brad Conway. George Anthony sent several text messages to his family members suggesting that he wanted to end his life, Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood said this morning. Police Chief Mike Chitwood spoke with George Anthony and convinced him to seek medical attention, reports show. Source: Orlando Sentinel

I can imagine the stress this family in under due to the selfish act of their daughter, Casey Anthony. Still, George Anthony’s actions of committing suicide would not help his family. I am sure that he is consumed with so much guilt from the obvious missteps he and his wife committed concerning this little girl’s well-being. He needs some serious counselling and his actions tell me that there is an admission of guilt somewhere in all this about who killed this little girl.

Filed under: Apparent Suicide, Casey Anthony, Caylee Anthony, Despondency, Felony, George Anthony

Real-Estate Executive Steven L. Good Found Dead of Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound

Well, the more dire the economy becomes the more suicides occur. Well, at least of money managers and other rich folks. The latest is Steven L. Good, 52, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was found in his Jaguar in a forest preserve outside Chicago, said the Kane County Sheriff’s Department.

Mr. Good was chief executive of Sheldon Good & Co., one of the nation’s largest real-estate auction firms. His father founded the company in 1965. As chairman of the Realtors Commercial Alliance Committee, Mr. Good said last month in an industry outlook news release that market conditions were “very challenging.”

According to the company’s Web site, Sheldon Good “has sold more than 45,000 U.S. and international properties in more than 100 different classes and produced more than $10 billion in sales.”

Mr. Good wrote a book called “Churches, Jails and Gold Mines…Mega-Deals from a Real Estate Maverick.” In it, Mr. Good tells how he purportedly turned his auction firm into the real-estate equivalent of Sotheby’s or Christie’s. “That book is a must-read for anyone in real-estate auctions,” said Chris Longly, spokesman for the National Auctioneers Association. Source: Wall Street Journal

This latest wave of suicides show how materialistic people are. Poor folks won’t kill themselves. They’ll make do with what they have. Some rich folks freak out once the market goes down. They are in a tailspin and the only alternative for them is suicide. How selfish. This comes on the heels of German billionaire Adolf Merckle killing himself because his fortune dipped a couple billions. A message to all the rich folks contemplating suicide, think about your family first and the anguish and heartache that would ensue.

Filed under: Adolf Merckle, Apparent Suicide, Real Estate, Steven L. Good

Billionaire Merckle Killed by Train, Die Welt Reports, Possible Suicide

German newspaper Die Welt is reporting that German billionaire Adolf Merckle, whose investment company was renegotiating its bank debt, died after he was hit by a train and may have committed suicide, Die Welt reported.

Merckle was struck near his hometown of Blaubeuren, southeast of Stuttgart, yesterday evening, the German newspaper said on its Web site today. Police said he may have killed himself, the newspaper said.

Yep, another investment baron to fall flat on his face. Merckle had lost money from a series of wrong-way bets on Volkswagen AG, a drop in the value of his HeidelbergCement AG stake and increasing debt. The 74-year-old, whose estimated $9.2 billion fortune put him 94th on Forbes’s list of the world’s richest people, was negotiating with banks on a bridge loan to rescue his investment company VEM Vermoegensverwaltung GmbH.

Merckle was to get more than $547 million in bridge loans to rescue VEM, Financial Times Deutschland reported yesterday, citing unidentified bankers. I hate to say it, but Merckle won’t be the last to kill himself over bad investments. It isn’t everyday that people leisurely stroll on the railroad tracks and get hit by a passing train, unless of course, they wanted to get killed.

Filed under: Adolf Merckle, Apparent Suicide, Hit by Train