Motives behind suicides are various, ranging from personal to communal. Many people for many reasons known or unknown, have done it. Whatever it may be, one requires nerves of steel to pull off a suicide. Suicide rates vary from country to country. In the U.S. it’s bigger killer than car accidents. You may also check the list of countries with highest suicide rates. Nobody, besides the victim, would know what goes on in his mind a few minutes before taking his own life himself. Here is a list of 10 people who gruesomely killed themselves for known and unknown reasons.
10. Frank Stanford
Born in Richton, Mississippi in 1948, Stanford immediately rose to the forefront of the American poetry and literature stage, penning a memorable classic such as, The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You. Needless to say, Stanford struggled with depression for most of his young life. His fateful demise occurred in 1978, while he was still ripe in his prime. After an argument with his wife after she discovered her husband’s infidelity through his private writings, Stanford locked himself in his bedroom and shot himself three times in the heart with a .22 caliber pistol.
Again, he shot himself three times. It would be safe to say that the first bullet wasn’t lethal, but the other two should have instantly killed him. Though, it is really mind-boggling to imagine a situation where someone would have the audacity to shoot their heart three times.
9. Gary Webb
For all of those outside of the journalism world, Gary Webb was an amazing investigative journalist who worked for the San Jose Mercury News back in the ‘90s. The news office sought his expertise to cover the Loma Prieta Earthquake, which garnered him a Pulitzer Prize. Webb is notorious for his “Dark Alliance” series. The series revolved around cocaine trade and its assistance from the CIA. With all of this mind, it is quite upsetting that a person with an immaculate profile such as this was not given any job security whatsoever.
After his controversial resignation from Mercury News, Webb received a job as an investigator at the Legislature’s Office of Majority Services. In 2004, Webb was laid off; subsequently after Fabian Nunez was elected speaker. Unable to support his family, Webb shot himself twice in the head a few months later. Many suspected that his death was the product of some sort of foul play, specifically because Webb specialized in conspiracy writing. However, the Sacramento County`s Coroner’s Office declared the death was a suicide. Sleeping pills would have definitely did the trick here.
8. Eugen Schauman
Schauman was a member of a group of Finnish activists who all had one common enemy, which was Nikolai Bobrikov, the Governor General of Finland. Brewing with patriotism and malcontent with the state of the Senate of Finland, Bobrikov was blamed for Finland’s economic and political shortcomings. Therefore, the activists wanted him dead. Shauman, personally wanted the honor of killing the Governor General,
On June 16, 1904, Shauman ran into Bobrikov and shot him three times at point-blank range. Surprisingly, he then shot himself twice with a FN Browning M1900 pistol, loaded with exploding bullets. He died instantly. Although his death was terribly uncalled for, he was still praised as a hero towards Finland`s resistance movement.
7. Abu Nidal
Unlike most of the people on this list, there is no dispute that Nidal was not a good guy. Nidal founded a Palestinian military group, commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO). With thousands of atrocities credited to the group in the 1970s and 1980s, the ANO was deemed the most dangerous Palestinian militant, even to this very day. In fact, Nidal is believed to have ordered the death of more than 300 people, while injuring 900.
Long story short, Nidal was found dead in his apartment in 2002. While many speculated that Saddam Hussein ordered his death, all facts point to him committing suicide. Nidal had multiple gunshot wounds surfaced on this body, but the coup de grace was a gunshot wound in the mouth. It`s probably more conclusive that he killed himself because he was afraid of Hussein, rather than being killed by Hussein himself.
6. David Jacobs
David Jacobs is not a person whom you might find using a Google search. In fact, he is not as well known as the others on this list. Nonetheless, Jacobs was a steroid dealer who was infamous for selling nearly $100,000 worth of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs to NFL players. Before he became a drug dealer, Jacobs worked as a personal trainer, and he had several ties to well-known athletes.
While on the lam, Jacobs and his girlfriend was found dead with numerous gunshot wounds littered over their mangled bodies. No foul play was detected, and the death was ruled a suicide.
5. Pierre Bérégovoy
Beregovoy`s suicide is perhaps the most somber on the list because of the profound fact that he did not have to die. Moreover, Bérégovoy was a Socialist who served as the Prime Minister of France from 1992 to 1993. Although he was a shrewd reformer, the Socialist party reached an abysmal state in 1993, and completely collapsed. Subsequently, he resigned after the legislative election of 1993.
Bérégovoy became tremendously depressed after his party’s downfall. With his political career in shambles, Bérégovoy took a gun from his bodyguard and shot himself twice. The news of his death was a major blow to France, no pun intended. However, the biggest question is how did he shoot himself twice?
4. Yuriy Kravchenko
Yuriy Kravchenko`s suicide still draws suspicion to this very day. Kravchenko served notably as Ukraine`s Minister of Internal Affairs, but in 2005 he was caught in a scandal. It was largely rumored that Kravchenko was involved in the death of journalist, Georgiy Gongadze. Those rumors soon gained some traction, and Kravchenko was called to testify on behalf of his supposed involvement in the crime.
Unexpectedly, Kravchenko shot himself twice in the head after carefully penning a suicide note, blaming Gongadze`s death on Ukraine’s former president. Again, sleeping pills would have did the trick.
3. Zamanbek Nurkadilov
Nurkadilov`s death could have been set up, but since there is no proof of that, we are just going to go with the Government of Kazakhstan suicide ruling. Nurkadilov served as the Mayor of Almaty, and as the Minister of Emergency Situations for President Nazarbayev. Nurkadilov, rashly, criticized his president’s regime; he was declared an enemy to the state.
Three weeks before the 2005 Presidential election, Nurkadilov was found with three self-inflicted gunshot wounds. He was shot two times in the chest and one time in the head. If this was a suicide, which it was, Nurkadilov sure did go overboard.
2. François de Grossouvre
Son of French politician, Francois Mitterand, Grossouvre soon followed in his father`s footsteps and became a prominent politician. What is most shocking about this is that Grossouvre was killed rather swiftly and unexpectedly. The details surrounding his death is hazy. but there is absolutely no proof that any foul play was involved, so a suicide sounds likely.
The most interesting part about his suicide was that an autopsy concluded that Grossouvre suffered from a gunshot wound to the head, as well as less serious injuries to his shoulder, face, and rear torsion arm. It would be safe to say that Grossouvre tried his hand at suicide a few times before he cut his loses and shot himself.
1. A man from Australia
As you can see, this man probably is not as important as the rest on this list, but there is a reason why he is at the number one spot. In 1995, this man was reported to have shot himself in the chest with a pump action shotgun. The wound was non-fatal, so he then proceeded to shoot himself in the head with a pistol. In dire straits, the man shot himself in the throat with the shotgun. Finally, he crawled to a nearby hill and shot himself again in his chest.
The final blow crushed his heart, killing him instantly. This story is entirely real, for those who might be taken aback by this crude gore. This item can actually be nominated for many lists because it is both surprising and horrific.
Written By: Brandon Lee