Why Would GOP Candidate For Missouri Governor Kill Himself?

[Purveyor]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri's auditor, who fatally shot himself in an apparent suicide, had vowed to take down the state's most powerful politicians and donors, including his fellow Republicans, when he launched an anti-corruption campaign for governor last month.

But in his final days, Tom Schweich described having knots in his stomach over what he thought was an anti-Semitic whisper campaign by a GOP consultant who now runs the state party.

That intensity had served him well in the past - he was proud of exposing corruption in his four years as auditor. But his tendency to fixate on issues also sometimes made it hard for him to get over political attacks, say some of his advisers and colleagues.

Schweich left behind a wife and two children - and a seemingly rising political career - when he died Thursday at age 54.

He said his audits exposed more than 30 "corrupt government officials" who allegedly stole taxpayer money. But his promised gubernatorial campaign against corruption had barely begun.

MORE...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MISSOURI_AUDITOR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-02-27-16-15-46

[mikeysnot]

1. hhmmmmm

rising career, ... suicide?

[Politicalboi]

2. Where was Frank Underwood?

[daredtowork]

3. That's a weird story

I would be curious about prevailing winds of antisemitism (and possibly old-fashioned Zionist Bankers Conspiracy Theory) if a guy running for political office thought just the suggestion he might be Jewish would ruin his chances. What does that say about the chances of someone who is actually Jewish? Whatever mental issues this guy might have had going on, there is something weird going on here.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Very suspicious. Very suspicious, indeed...

Something stinks.

[herding cats]

4. He had had contact with the press right before he died.

In a voicemail reportedly left just minutes before died, Schweich is heard asking the editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board Tony Messenger to send a reporter to his home.
"Tony, this is Tom Schweich calling," Schweich says in the recording posted on the paper's website. "You can have a reporter here at my house at 2:30."
Schweich also reportedly called and spoke with an Associated Press reporter just minutes earlier.


The Republican gubernatorial hopeful wanted to meet with the reporters to go public with allegations that head of his party had made anti-Semitic statements about him as part of a whisper campaign against him.
http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2015/02/26/tom-schweich-hospitalized/24065713/

[randome]

6. Whatever truly happened...Bill O'Reilly had nothing to do with it.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[Stallion]

12. Bill Was Actually on the Porch Knocking on Door

when he shot himself

[woodsprite]

7. Was it a "shot to the back of the head w/ his hands tied behind the back" kind of suicide? n/t

[jmowreader]

15. No, not at all...

...but there are footprints on his shins, knee-shaped bruises on his biceps, a hand-shaped bruise on his throat and ten scratches on the floor right in line with his fingernails.

TOTALLY consistent with suicide.

[DonViejo]

8. Missouri Guv Candidate Worried About Anti-Semitic Attacks Before Suicide

Just days before his death, Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich (R) told the editorial page editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper that he was concerned about an anti-Semitic whisper campaign he believed a top state GOP official was making to damage his aspirations to become governor.

Schweich, who was an announced candidate for governor, died Thursday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Clayton, Mo. police Chief Kevin Murphy later said in a press conference that Schweich's death was an "apparent suicide," according to the Post-Dispatch.

The newspaper reported that over the course of several conversations in the days leading up to Schweich's death, he told the paper's editorial page editor, Tony Messenger, that John Hancock, the state GOP chairman, had been telling people that Schweich was Jewish

Schweich was not Jewish and attended an Episcopal church, according to the Post-Dispatch.

more

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tom-schweich-suicide-anti-semitic-attacks

[Zambero]

10. The right wing "loves" Israel but despises Jews as individuals

Schweich was a centrist politician with an honest reputation who managed to get quite a few Democrats to support him in his successful election as State Auditor. As far as religious preference goes, he was also an Episcopalian who also had a Jewish heritage. Close enough for bigots, who were intent on portraying him as "more Jewish than Christian" in order to lessen the chance of Schweich getting his party's nomination for governor. As was suggested in Rachael's story tonight, today's Missouri GOP has a VERY small tent. Those lacking ideological and religious purity are no longer welcome to the party. Any and all means necessary to exclude an unwanted entity will go forward.

[starroute]

9. So he was expected to run against Catherine Hanaway

I remember that name from the Bush US Attorney scandal. She wasn't one of the US Attorneys directly involved, but she was very tight with the Missouri GOP establishment. Here's something about her in 2001, when she'd just been rushing Bush's Missouri campaign and was considered a rising star:

http://www.law.edu/alumni/cualawyer/issues/spring2001/Balancing-Act.cfm

[dissentient]

11. Who knows. There are lots of suspicious "suicides" that happen though, especially among those who

seem to be making problems or waves towards powerful people, such as investigative journalists, and whistle-blowers like this guy. I could name a bunch of them, but just do a google search if you're interested.

It does seem awfully convenient a lot of the time. I can imagine an elite person saying to themselves or to their confidants in the chambers of power - "Well, that's one problem solved!"

[REP]

13. Couldn't get him in a plane, like Jerry Litton and Mel Carnahan?

I don't actually believe any of these men were a victim of a conspiracy, but damn, Missouri is hard on its politicians.

[MrMickeysMom]

14. Sure… Isn't that what you do when you want your suicide to mean something?

Forget about what you meant to say… it was always announcing his death.

Please come to invest in some swamp land.