'If anything happens to me, it's not suicide,' dead Boeing whistleblower to friend.

[Kid Berwyn]

Last edited Fri Mar 15, 2024, 12:40 PM - Edit history (1)

'If anything happens to me, it’s not suicide,’ friend of dead Boeing whistleblower says he told her

Story by Elizabeth Blackstock
Jalopnik, March 15, 2024

John Barnett, 62, was in the process of testifying against the Boeing Company regarding the aircraft manufacturer’s manufacturing processes when he was found dead in South Carolina with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Now, though, a family friend of Barnett’s says that, before he died, he warned her that if he were found dead, it would not be the result of a suicide.

Jennifer, who did not share her surname, spoke to local ABC news affiliate WPDE about a concerning conversation she says she had with Barnett. She alleges that Barnett came by to visit her when she needed help, and they began to speak about his upcoming deposition in Charleston, South Carolina.

“He wasn’t concerned about safety because I asked him,” Jennifer told WPDE. “I said, ‘Aren’t you scared?’ And he said, ‘No, I ain’t scared, but if anything happens to me, it’s not suicide.’”

Barnett was staying in a Holiday Inn in Charleston ahead of his deposition; when his lawyers were unable to contact Barnett, they called in a wellness check, according to police reports obtained by the New York Post. A hotel staff member found Barnett’s body in his pickup truck; he was holding a silver pistol in his hand and appeared to have died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/if-anything-happens-to-me-it-s-not-suicide-friend-of-dead-boeing-whistleblower-says-he-told-her/ar-BB1jXJIC?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=5b5de7a743f248439b26cd432b25dec8&ei=11

[a kennedy]

1. Makes ya wanna go hmmmmm

[Ocelot II]

4. Sure does.

I've always wondered about this guy, too: https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/03/26/The-wife-of-an-airline-mechanic-who-committed-suicide/2061354430800/

[Kid Berwyn]

6. Mr. Barnett shone a light where someone doesn't want light.

In 2019, Barnett told The New York Times about quality issues at Boeing's factory in South Carolina, where the 787 jetliner is assembled. Barnett said he found discarded metal shavings near wiring for the flight controls. He said it could have been “catastrophic” if the sharp pieces had pierced the wiring.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/03/12/boeing-whistleblower-death-apparent-suicide-south-carolina/5dae43ae-e09a-11ee-95aa-7384336086f3_story.html

(Sorry about the paywall.)

[BadGimp]

25. pay wall removed

https://archive.ph/tCOT4

[Kid Berwyn]

36. Mille grazie!

From WaPo:

Barnett told the BBC that same year that up to a quarter of the oxygen systems on the 787 – a two-aisle plane that airlines use mostly for international flights – might not work because of faulty parts installed at the Boeing plant. Boeing denied the claim.

[TSExile]

2. The timing is definitely suspicious.

Too many things have happened to make this anything but suspicious.

[Kid Berwyn]

8. Much too much.

Catch up on Boeing's ongoing airplane fiasco

Boeing has recently been plagued by safety concerns that began Jan. 5 after a door panel blew off a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet during a flight from Oregon to California. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the plane — which was operated by Alaska Airlines — appeared to be missing four key bolts.

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, threatened to shun Boeing after the carrier’s fleet of MAX 9 aircraft was grounded in the wake of the near-disastrous Alaska Airlines door blowout.

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, warned that another midair door blowout like the Boeing 737 MAX 9 fiasco “can happen again,” adding there was a “problem with the process” of production.

Disaster struck again a week after the initial incident when a Boeing plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Japan due to a crack in the cockpit window.

A Boeing 757 lost its front tire as the aircraft was preparing to depart for an international flight in late January. At Atlanta International Airport, a Delta flight bound for Bogota, Colombia, was taxiing across the runway into takeoff position when another plane alerted the control tower that something was amiss.

Later, a UK passenger was alarmed after noticing pieces of tape on the exterior of a Boeing 787 during a flight to India, as seen in shocking photos.

A United Airlines Boeing 777-300 aircraft suffered a midair fuel leak and was forced to make an emergency landing Monday, March 11, marking the fifth incident the airline reported in a little over a week.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary previously said he’s made “loud complaints” to Boeing over quality control.

Whistleblower John Barnett raised safety concerns at the airline’s factories and provided his first testimony at a bombshell lawsuit against Boeing. He was found dead in his truck after he failed to show up for the second part of his testimony on Monday.

SOURCE: https://nypost.com/2024/03/15/us-news/boeing-whistleblower-john-barnett-made-powerful-enemies-before-alleged-suicide-workers-warn/

[redqueen]

3. Has anyone seen the "piece of paper that closely resembled a note"?

[maxsolomon]

15. Maybe the police?

I haven't.

[Kid Berwyn]

16. From reports I've found, its contents have not been disclosed.

Boeing whistleblower dies in Charleston, Charleston County Coroner's Office confirms

by IAN KAYANJA & BRYCE JACQUOT
ABC 4 News | WCIVMon, March 11th 2024 at 9:50 PM
Updated Tue, March 12th 2024 at 4:25 PM

EXCERPT...

News 4 also obtained a statement from Barnett's lawyers Robert Turkewitz and Brian Knowles, who claim he was in "good spirits" and "looking forward to putting this phase of life behind him."

"John was a brave, honest man of the highest integrity. He cared dearly about his family, his friends, the Boeing company, his Boeing co-workers, and the pilots and people who flew on Boeing aircraft," the statement reads. "We have rarely met someone with a more sincere and forthright character.

"In the course of his job as a quality manager at Boeing South Carolina, John learned of and exposed very serious safety problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and was retaliated against and subjected to a hostile work environment, which is the subject of his pending AIR-21 case."

The lawyers continued: "John was in the midst of a deposition in his whistleblower retaliation case, which finally was nearing the end. He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on. We didn't see any indication he would take his own life. No one can believe it.

"We are all devasted. We need more information about what happened to John. The Charleston police need to investigate this fully and accurately and tell the public what they find out. No detail can be left unturned."

Source: https://abcnews4.com/news/local/boeing-whistleblower-dies-in-charleston-charleston-county-coroners-office-confirms-south-carolina-boeing-news-abc-news-4

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Welcome to Putin's America. Where the guys with the money can make all problems disappear.

[HandmaidsTaleUntold]

21. Who Is Boeing CEO

This is crazy. There needs to be accountability. This is a murder.

[maxsolomon]

44. Incredibly easy to learn with a web search.

Try the terms "Who Is Boeing CEO".

Welcome to DU, I hope that helps.

[HandmaidsTaleUntold]

47. Lol. Was Rhetorical

Meaning we to ask that first and then go after them. Publicly. This isn’t the age of Enron anymore. The internet travels fast.

[maxsolomon]

58. So, "we" charge the head of Boeing with murder?

Who is "we"?

[UpInArms]

49. Not ceo ... but Patrick Shanahan

Patrick Shanahan spent 31 years rising through the ranks at Boeing, rescuing some of the company’s most troubled programs. His stormy six months as Donald Trump’s acting Defense secretary included an ethics probe into allegations of favoritism toward the aerospace giant — and at least one instance of the president referring to him as “the Boeing guy.”

Now Shanahan is firmly in the center of yet another Boeing maelstrom: the mid-air door blowout that left a gaping hole in a nearly brand new Alaska Airlines jet.

Shanahan is president and CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, the contractor that manufactures the 737 MAX 9’s fuselage, including the faulty door panel that flew out during that accident. The Jan. 5 incident near Portland, Oregon, was just the latest in a series of accusations of shoddy work by Spirit Aero, including poor fittings and misdrilled holes. (Spirit AeroSystems, a spinoff of Boeing, has no connection with Spirit Airlines.)

Shanahan was installed at Spirit Aero with the explicit mission of fixing its quality problems after its previous chief executive resigned, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. The newspaper noted that Spirit Aero’s quality problems had slowed production at Boeing and forced the plane-maker to miss its production targets.

For Shanahan, who acquired the nickname Mr. Fix-It during his time at Boeing, stepping in to solve another mess was a calling, Spirit Aero spokesperson Joe Buccino said. (Shanahan was not made available for this story.)

More at

https://news.yahoo.com/why-trump-pentagon-chief-embroiled-120000666.html

[Kid Berwyn]

37. When the problem is what a man knows or does: No man, no problem.

Those loyal to Putin toss Russian oligarchs out of windows, crash the aircraft carrying opponents, and poison the underpants of people like Navalny with chemical warfare agents. For some sick reason, Donald J Trump admires Putin and his murderous ilk. Yet, for some reason, the US news media won't hammer that fact home for voters to consider.

[bluestarone]

7. I believe this. I'm thinking if he felt this way

There will be some kind of recordings or something he would want someone to turn in as evidence? Please, i hope he was smart enough to leave a trail of some sort.

[Kid Berwyn]

41. "This is very critical stuff," Barnett said in an interview with Australian TV.

Boeing whistleblower John Barnett's lawyer speaks after his client's sudden death

By business reporter Nadia Daly
ABC, March 15 (March 16 in Australia), 2024

EXCERPT...

For the past seven years Knowles had been the lawyer for 62 year old John Barnett, a former Boeing employee and whistleblower who had for years raised safety concerns about planes being built in the company's factories where he worked for over three decades.

His client was in the middle of giving evidence for a lawsuit against Boeing that was years in the making and finally set to begin. The finish line was in sight, his lawyers said, and John was "in good spirits".

SNIP...

"This is very critical stuff," he said in January of this year.

"It's why I want to talk to you, you know. People's lives are on the line and I think it's very critical.

"And if I can save one life, then this is all worth it. And I've been fighting this for 12 years now. So hopefully it does some good."

SNIP...

John Barnett worked on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (the same model of plane involved in the incident this week on a flight between Sydney and Auckland) but he feared the culture that he said prioritised profit and production speed over quality and safety had implications for planes beyond the model he worked on.

CONTINUES...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-16/john-barnett-boeing-worker-turned-whistleblower-legacy/103593106

[Pinback]

9. Reminds me a bit of the movie "Michael Clayton."

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465538/

[Kid Berwyn]

43. Oh, yeah. Thank you for the kind reminder!

My wife loves George Clooney. My daughters love George Clooney. My sisters love George Clooney. My sisters-in-law love George Clooney...I like his politics.

In the case of Boeing, I love their aircraft. They are second-to-none in quality of design and, until recently, quality of construction. In order to compete with the Airbus folks, from what I understand, the company's board approved opening up manufacturing facilities overseas and in non-union facilities domestically. That may have saved money, but evidently not lives and not the company's sterling reputation.

My father-in-law was a USAAF navigator aboard a B-17G. After VE-Day, they started training him on B-29s with the idea that the war in the Pacific was going to go on for another year or two. He liked me when we first met because I was aware of the aircraft types ("chin turret" ) and their roles in WW2. Here's an example of their airworthiness:



SOURCE: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/incredible-images-of-damaged-b-17-bombers-that-miracilously-made-it-home.html

[rickford66]

51. Had a neighbor, a B17 pilot who had the front of his B17 shot off.

His daughter showed me the news clippings detailing it when we were kids. He suffered what we call PTSD today for several years. Mr. Seamans nose art said "Seamans Demons" which was pictured in the clipping.

[Mblaze]

10. This reminds me of the Enron whistleblower.

Dead in his car parked in front of his house days before the court date. It seems to be a bit of a pattern.

[yardwork]

38. I was thinking the same, but that was more understandable.

The Enron guy was disgraced and may have felt there was no way out.

This one stinks to high heaven.

[Kid Berwyn]

45. Cliff Baxter

An Air Force Academy grad, Mr. Baxter was Vice Chairman of ENRON and had stated he was going to share what he knew with investigators.

Unlike Corporate McPravda, the World Socialist Web Site recorded this important history:

---===--

The strange and convenient death of J. Clifford Baxter—Enron executive found shot to death

By Patrick Martin
28 January 2002
WSWS.org

Without anything that can be called a serious investigation, local authorities in a wealthy Houston suburb have whitewashed the death of former Enron vice chairman J. Clifford Baxter, calling it a suicide. Baxter, 43, was found shot to death in his Mercedes Benz in the early hours of Friday morning, January 25, near his home in Sugar Land.

Baxter’s body was discovered inside his Mercedes Benz, which was parked in a turnaround on a street near his home. Officials in Sugar Land moved swiftly to label Baxter’s death a suicide. Local Justice of the Peace Jim Richard initially declared that Baxter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and no further inquiry was required. But within hours he reversed himself, citing the intense public interest in the death, and ordered an autopsy.

Harris County Medical Examiner Joye Carter conducted the autopsy and found the cause of death to be suicide by a “penetrating gunshot to the head.” The weapon was a .38 caliber revolver which was found in Baxter’s car, next to his body.

Neither the perfunctory official probe nor the media coverage has addressed the obvious suspicions aroused by the death of a critically important witness in the investigation into the criminal activities at Enron, the biggest corporate fraud in American history. Baxter quit as vice chairman of the company last May, after reportedly come into conflict with other top executives over the phony accounting gimmicks used to plunder billions of dollars.

The most disturbing account of Baxter’s last days comes from a former business associate who spoke to the New York Times but was not identified by the newspaper. This person spoke with the former Enron vice chairman two days before his death and congratulated him “for being named among those people who complained about Enron.”

According to the Times account, the unnamed associate added that Baxter “was talking about perhaps needing a bodyguard, though I’m not sure where that idea came from.”

That a man only two days away from suicide would be considering hiring a bodyguard defies belief. But neither the Times nor any other media outlet has raised the possibility that Baxter felt his life to be in danger because of what he knew and could divulge about the internal affairs of Enron. Men have been killed for much less.

Baxter was named in a memorandum submitted by Enron Vice President Sheron Watkins last August to Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay. Watkins warned Lay that dubious off-the-books transactions with private partnerships set up by top Enron officials might cause the company to “collapse in a welter of accounting scandals.” She cited Baxter’s opposition to one of these partnerships, set up by then-CEO Jeffrey Skilling, writing, “Cliff Baxter complained mightily to Skilling and all who would listen about the inappropriateness of our transactions with LJM.”

Baxter received a subpoena from the Senate Government Affairs Subcommittee on Permanent Oversight and Investigation, along with 48 other people linked to Enron and Andersen. Investigators from the House Energy and Commerce Committee had told Baxter’s lawyer that they wished to interview him, but had not yet issued a subpoena.

CONTINUED...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jan2002/enro-j28.shtml

[Mblaze]

48. Thanks for this info. 😀

[SpankMe]

11. Very Putin-esque. n/t

[Kid Berwyn]

52. Putin's Principles

4. Dissent must be crushed

Anyone who opposes Putin is to be tightly controlled, regularly harassed, imprisoned, and, if need be, physically eliminated. The foremost example of this is the lawyer, opposition leader and activist Alexei Navalny, who has been repeatedly imprisoned on spurious charges, and even poisoned with nerve agent novichok.

A lot of other domestic opposition to Putin – such as the communist leader Gennady Zyuganov and, more recently, the populist nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky – seems to present little threat to his indefinite rule.

Source: Russian Fascism

https://theconversation.com/russian-fascism-the-six-principles-of-putins-nationalist-ideology-218182#

[KT2000]

12. Doubt he killed himself

Last edited Sat Mar 16, 2024, 02:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Boeing is a defense contractor. They have connections and assets. Just ask their injured workers, politicians in states where they have facilities, and especially governors how they get their way.
Please support whistle blowers because they are supporting us.

[Kid Berwyn]

53. Boeing-McDonnell Douglas 1997 merger deserves scrutiny.

The 1997 merger that paved the way for the Boeing 737 Max crisis

By Natasha Frost
QZ.com, January 3, 2020

Late in the summer of 1997, two of the most critical players in global aviation became a single tremendous titan. Boeing, one of the US’s largest and most important companies, acquired its longtime plane manufacturer rival, McDonnell Douglas, in what was then the country’s tenth-largest merger. The resulting giant took Boeing’s name. More unexpectedly, it took its culture and strategy from McDonnell Douglas—even its commercial aviation department was struggling to retain customers.

Reporting on the deal, the New York Times made an observation that now seems prescient: “The full effect of the proposed merger on employees, communities, competitors, customers and investors will not be known for months, maybe even years.” Nearly 20 years later, one such effect has become the aviation story of the year, or perhaps the decade—the crashes of two 737 Max jets and the loss of 346 lives, not to mention the still-rising associated costs of around $10 billion.

In a clash of corporate cultures, where Boeing’s engineers and McDonnell Douglas’s bean-counters went head-to-head, the smaller company won out. The result was a move away from expensive, ground-breaking engineering and toward what some called a more cut-throat culture, devoted to keeping costs down and favoring upgrading older models at the expense of wholesale innovation. Only now, with the 737 indefinitely grounded, are we beginning to see the scale of its effects.

“The fatal fault line was the McDonnell Douglas takeover,” says Clive Irving, author of Jumbo: The Making of the Boeing 747. “Although Boeing was supposed to take over McDonnell Douglas, it ended up the other way around.”

Continues…

https://qz.com/1776080/how-the-mcdonnell-douglas-boeing-merger-led-to-the-737-max-crisis

PS: Agree completely: we must support Whistleblowers — and all truth tellers — including when we don’t agree with their positions. Adult citizens should be able and willing to “handle the truth.”

[KT2000]

56. So right

How this conversion was handled was documented in the 2010 book: Turbulence: Boeing and the State of American Workers and Managers First Edition
They had to break the bonds that made it such a great company. I think of it as an evil force moving in with a family and destroying it.

I grew up in a Boeing family and a lot of people in Seattle did. Yes, they were a competitive corporation, but it was the intangibles that made it greater than the sum of its parts. Pride in working there, loyalty, and believe me - engineers afraid they would make a mistake that would cost lives. Kids of those engineers thought of themselves as orphans as their dedication was thorough. They were consumed by making the impossible, possible.

Blurb from Amazon: This timely book investigates the experiences of employees at all levels of Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) during a ten-year period of dramatic organizational change. As Boeing transformed itself, workers and managers contended with repeated downsizing, shifting corporate culture, new roles for women, outsourcing, mergers, lean production, and rampant technological change. Drawing on a unique blend of quantitative and qualitative research, the authors consider how management strategies affected the well-being of Boeing employees, as well as their attitudes toward their jobs and their company. Boeing employees’ experience holds vital lessons for other employees, the leaders of other firms determined to thrive in today’s era of inescapable and growing global competition, as well as public officials concerned about the well-being of American workers and companies.

[yankee87]

13. Karen Silkwood redux?

Tin foil hat time for me. Boeing executives are capable of anything, I believe.

[Kid Berwyn]

54. Large majority are good people.

Finding the one who would do such a thing is hard because the psychos are so good at camouflage, especially in a corporation.

—-===——

Summary:

Research sheds light on how to identify and manage individuals termed ‘corporate psychopaths’ within the business realm.

These individuals, making up roughly 1% of adults, lack emotions such as guilt or empathy but often rise to leadership positions due to their charismatic traits. They present significant threats to businesses, sectors, and even entire economies.

Warning signs to detect their presence include superficial charm, rationality, lack of remorse, and emotional shallowness.

Key Facts:

* 1% of the adult population are psychopaths, lacking emotions like guilt or empathy.

* Corporate psychopaths can pose significant threats to companies, sectors, and economies.

* Warning signs of corporate psychopathy include superficial charm, rationality, lack of remorse, and emotional shallowness.

Source: Anglia Ruskin University

https://neurosciencenews.com/corporate-psychopath-psychology-24956/


—-===—-

ETA:

Remembering the Killing of Karen Silkwood

August 11, 2009 in Capitalism, Environmental Justice, Nuclear, Organizing

After watching the brilliantly-acted and courageous film Silkwood (1983, starring Meryl Streep), I learned the compelling story of Karen Silkwood and her death, which has seemingly been forgotten by America. Karen, only 28, was a union activist working in a Kerr-McGee nuclear power plant in Oklahoma, who died in a suspicious car accident while on her way to meet with a New York Times reporter for a story that would have exposed the company’s dangerous and illegal mishandling of plutonium.

Karen was active in her union, calling attention to the radioactive contamination in the plant, and spent months compiling evidence to show that the company was deliberately covering up the fact that their fuel rods contained imperfections, which could put millions of lives at risk if they sparked a meltdown. The night of her death, many believe Karen was deliberately driven off the road by another car, and her family was later able to sue Kerr-McGee for $1.3 million in damages, but the company admits no wrongdoing.

The nuclear plant where Karen worked was shut down in 1975, one year after her death. When Karen’s story became public controversy, it helped display the dangers inherent to nuclear power, contributing to the amazingly successful anti-nuclear movement that has stopped construction of all new nuclear plants in the US since 1979. Thus is especially important today as some corporate lobbyists are trying to repackage nuclear power as a “clean” or “carbon-free” energy “source.” In fact, it’s none of those things.

Karen’s story is both a warning and an inspiration – that capitalism pushes companies to sometimes do terrible things to protect their profits, even if it means endangering lives, but also that brave people such as Karen Silkwood, in bringing the truth to light, can challenge us to create a better world.

CONTINUED w LINKS:

http://endofcapitalism.com/2009/08/11/remembering-the-k...

[Emile]

14. Victim of Predatory Capitalism

[Mme. Defarge]

20. I think it has progressed (or regressed)

to cannibalistic capitalism.

[maxsolomon]

17. What could he possibly have said that would cause him to be assassinated

by powers at Boeing?

"The manufacturing process in non-unionized SC was shoddy" isn't exactly a shocking revelation.

Guns make everything worse.

[rubbersole]

33. Especially when there aren't any 6 story windows to fall out of.

[maxsolomon]

34. ?

I'm wondering what information he could have had that would rise to the level of requiring an assassination - whether by handgun or defenestration.

It's not like Boeing is going to be put out of business by anything he'd have said.

[yardwork]

39. We'll never know now.

[TSExile]

18. Where's Secretary Pete?

Boeing should be hauled before a Senate hearing.

[bpj62]

28. Federal Criminal Investigation

Boeing is subject to a recently opened Boinvestigation over the plug blowout on the 737 MAX 9. I doubt Pete can say anything at this point nor would Boeing show up to an hearing while it is being investigated. Ever since Boeing made the decision to get any from the unions they have had nothing but bad luck.

[Magoo48]

19. I support all whistleblowers, especially when I have "taxpayer skin" in the game.

2x especially if It’s MIC related.

[TheRealNorth]

46. Well, if he isn't a Russian agent being paid half a million dollars to smear the Biden's....

The Republican House of Representatives ain't interested.

[wolfie001]

22. South Carolina too

What a shitshow

[moniss]

23. So nobody at the motel

heard anything? Nobody saw the guy sitting in the truck missing part of his head until the lawyers called for a wellness check? Nobody staying at the motel was out and about?

I note that according to this article studying suicides the handgun only remained in the hand in just over 25% of cases. More than enough cause for more questions. Also they would appear to be calling this "impulsive" and that is also atypical as the second link shows. Last comment I have is the idea the general idea of suicides leaving a "note/letter/reason". The 3rd link is to an article about a study indicating that less than 50% of the time is there any such thing.

So we have a case where the gun remaining in the hand is far less likely than more likely, the occurrence is less likely than more likely, but a "note" was left which is less likely than more likely. Especially the idea of the note going with impulsivity. What we have is way more than enough to say there need to be more questions and more answers given all of the circumstances. We can add reasons to be suspicious to include Boeing now claiming they have no idea who in the factory worked on the door, don't know where the video is and the guy in charge of the maintenance is now "medically unavailable to speak to investigators" according to his lawyers.

Suicide is a terrible thing and I will never forget coming to work one day years ago to find that a co-worker who had tried to give me some of his belongings a couple of days before had taken his life that morning. We were both so young. That day I began to learn that sometimes when people are talking you need to shut up, slow down and read between the lines. I, like most people in life, wish I knew then what I know now.

Let's ask questions and look for answers.


https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10208326/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-is-state-mind/201806/common-myths-about-suicide-debunked

https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/cap/82375

[Ford_Prefect]

24. Same for him as the DC Madam, and the data master who was testifying about how W really got elected.

They both knew things about very committed, powerful people who had very serious stuff to keep from the public and the DOJ. Both of them told other people they were close to that if anything happened to them it absolutely was not suicide. Both died in suspicious circumstances which were quite out of character.
The cleaner has been busy, again.

[jalan48]

26. Challenge our Corporate State at your peril. No wonder our Corporate State Reps fall in line.

[KS Toronado]

27. From what I've read nobody has said who the gun was registered to.

Anybody see that info?

[ZonkerHarris]

29. They left the pistol in his hand. Big mistake. Head shot suicides drop the gun after it's fired.

everyone who watched CSI knows this.

[moreland01]

30. He's the reason

I go out of my way (literally!) to not fly on the 737-Max. And I make sure my family doesn't either. His words in the Netflix documentary were chilling. I was a QA Engineer, so I get what he went through.

[malaise]

31. Oh My

Shouldn''t this be national news?

[Joinfortmill]

32. What the holy f*ck? Who's gonna fly now?

[maxsolomon]

35. Everyone?

Me, certainly, on a Boeing plane in May.

[Joinfortmill]

40. Wishing you well, sincerely. I will choose not to fly on them as long as that choice is possible.

[maxsolomon]

42. None have crashed since the 2 MCAS-related incidents

So odds are pretty good it will be OK.

[GiqueCee]

50. But there have been...

... more close calls since than chance would allow. I will err on the side of caution.
Put in simple terms, it appears that the bean-counters wrested control of the company from engineers, moved company headquarters away from the primary production locale, farmed out the manufacture of too many critical components without sufficient quality control oversight, all to increase dividends to the Almighty Stockholders, and then tried to hide when the proverbial substance hit the fan with a resounding splat.
People have been murdered over far less than was at stake here. Given the circumstances, and his prior remarks to his friend, I seriously doubt that Mr. Barnett offed himself while staying at a motel in anticipation of giving testimony against very bad people with a LOT to lose. I believe he was murdered, both to shut him up, and to scare the living shit out of anyone else who might consider speaking up.

[maxsolomon]

57. OK, don't fly then.

I don't believe Barnett was murdered until I see evidence to the contrary. Occam's Razor.

[GiqueCee]

59. Well, I sure as hell...

... won't fly on a Boeing aircraft. Hope you have a safe trip.

[Hotler]

55. 'If anything happens to me, it's not suicide,' said many times by whistleblowers through out history.

I stumbled upon this. 'His death was ruled a suicide, although those closest to him remain convinced he was murdered.'
What happened to Danny Casolaro? True story behind Netflix’s American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/octopus-murders-american-conspiracy-netflix-danny-casolaro-b2506348.html
March 4, 2024

Don't forget Gary Webb.
Webb was found dead in his Carmichael home on December 10, 2004, with two gunshot wounds to the head. His death was ruled a suicide by the Sacramento County coroner's office. According to a description of Webb's injuries in the Los Angeles Times, he shot himself with a .38 revolver, which he placed near his right ear. The first shot went through his face, and exited at his left cheek. The coroner's staff concluded that the second shot hit an artery.[71]

Webb is best known for his "Dark Alliance" series, which appeared in The Mercury News in 1996. The series examined the origins of the crack cocaine trade in Los Angeles and claimed that members of the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua had played a major role in creating the trade, using cocaine profits to finance their fight against the government in Nicaragua. It also stated that the Contras may have acted with the knowledge and protection of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The series provoked outrage, particularly in the Los Angeles African-American community, and led to four major investigations of its charges.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb