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Suicide: Man Leaps From Skydiving Plane At 10,000 Feet
D.C. Madam Apologized To Family In Suicide Notes
The woman known as the “D.C. Madam” apologized to her mother and sister in suicide notes, saying she couldn’t bear going to prison and saw killing herself as the only “exit strategy.”
Debra Jean Palfrey also wrote that she couldn’t bare the thought of spending the next 6-8 years in prison for what she called a “modern day lynching.”
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, convicted last month of running an elite Washington prostitution ring, wrote to her mother that she could not “live the next 6-8 years behind bars for what you and I have come to regard as this ‘modern day lynching,’ only to come out of prison in my late ’50s a broken, penniless and very much alone woman.”
Just as I wrote last week, it’s outrageous that with one of the highest murder rates in the country, Washington D.C. decided to use their resources to go after Palfrey for running an escort service.
D.C. Madam Committs Suicide
From the AP:
A woman police believe to be convicted Washington escort service operator Deborah Jeane Palfrey committed suicide, officials said Thursday.
Police said the body was found in a shed near Palfrey’s mother’s home Thursday morning. There was a suicide note, but police did not disclose its contents or how she killed herself.
Police did not immediately have additional comment when reached by telephone. Palfrey’s attorney, Preston Burton, did not return a telephone call and e-mail message.
Palfrey was convicted April 15 by a federal jury of running a prostitution service that catered to members of Washington’s political elite, including Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican.
She had denied her escort service engaged in prostitution, saying that if any of the women engaged in sex acts for money, they did so without her knowledge.
She was convicted of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering. Palfrey faced a maximum of 55 years in prison and was free pending her sentencing July 24.
It’s a real tragedy that Ms. Palfrey took her own life. She was facing 55 years in prison for what shouldn’t even be a crime in this country. She ran a successful escort service for 13 years in which all the lawmakers and bigwigs of D.C. used her services on a regular basis, then one day they decide to prosecute her.
The entire ugly episode stinks of hypocrisy and represents a colossal waste of millions of tax payer dollars to try and convict Debra Jean Palfrey. I know citizens of D.C. breathed a collective sigh of relief when the news came down that Ms. Palfrey had been convicted and will soon be taken off the streets.
Washington D.C. is one of the most violent cities in America. Bloody gang-related murders are an everyday occurrence and claim the lives of dozens of people every year.
So rather than hunting down a thug or maybe even taking down a gang leader, the feds chose to hunt down a middle aged woman who ran an escort service and see to it that she does some hard time.
Well done.
-Chris Jones
Report: 430 Troops Committed Suicide Since 2001
Research by the Veterans Affairs Department provides the first quantitative look at the suicide toll on today’s combat veterans.
The ongoing research reveals that at least 283 combat veterans who left the military between the start of the war in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, and the end of 2005 took their own lives.
Today’s homefront suicide tally is running at least double the number of troop suicides in the war zones as thousands of men and women return with disabling injuries and mental health disorders that put them at higher risk.
A total of 147 troops have killed themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan since the wars began, according to the Defense Manpower Data Center, which tracks casualties for the Pentagon.
That means a total of at least 430 of the 1.5 million troops who have fought in the two wars have killed themselves over the past six years.
That number doesn’t include those who committed suicide after their combat tour ended and while still in the military, a number the Pentagon says it doesn’t track.
-Chris Jones
Shooting at Ohio High School
A gunman opened fire in a downtown high school Wednesday before killing himself, and five people were taken to a hospital, authorities said.
Mayor Frank Jackson said three teens and two adults were hurt. He said the children were in “stable, good condition,” and the adults were in “a little elevated condition.”
Police said SuccessTech Academy had been secured and that the lone suspect had fatally shot himself. Students said he was enrolled at the alternative school but did not attend class Wednesday.
This provides yet another example of why teachers should be allowed to carry guns. The problem with “Gun Free Zones” is that only the killer gets to carry a gun.
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