Celebrity Hanging Suicides: Syncs and Links

The celebrity news of June 2018 was overwhelmed with suicides by hanging. The lives of the victims were intertwined and overlapping. Let's take a look at the syncs and links going back two decades for some suicides by hanging.

Jeanine Pepler

On June 17, 2018, Jeanine Pepler, 50, killed herself by hanging.

Pepler was the agent for The Blair Witch Project (1999) filmmakers (Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez). The Blair Witch Project involved the created legend of the ghost of Elly Kedward, a Blair, Maryland resident accused of practicing witchcraft in 1785 and sentenced to death by exposure. (One alternative ending of The Blair Witch Project has a lead character dying by hanging.)

This publicist also represented Sex and the City creator Cate Bushnell.

"Candace Bushnell was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Calvin L. Bushnell and Camille Salonia. Her father was one of the inventors of the Air Cooled Hydrogen Fuel Cell that was used in the Apollo Space Missions in the 1960s. Her Bushnell ancestors in the United States can be traced back to Francis Bushnell, one of the signatories of the Guilford Covenant, who emigrated from Thatcham, Berkshire, England in 1639." Source.

"On June 1, 1639, more than a month before Guilford’s founders reached the New England shore, 25 Puritan men bound their lives to each other in a Covenant, setting forth their vision for the community they would create together. Aboard the English ship St. John, these men signed their names to a document that stated their intentions to settle with their families as a group near the plantation of Quinnipiack (later New Haven), and to help each other survive and prosper in the New World." Source.

"According to this website the Guilford Covenant was a pact made by the first Puritan settlers to arrive in New England. The pact still exists today down through the bloodlines of those 25 families, but now did someone break the oath...thus...all these hanging deaths???" - Kristin Johnson

Jeanine Pepler's "death also links back to Anthony Bourdain and ultimately to Harvey Weinstein. It's obvious all of these fashion, TV, and movie people struck deals with one another to blow up their products and make tons of money...but at what price? What secret are they keeping that's worth dying over now?" ~ Sibyl Hunter


Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain, 61, killed himself by hanging (reportedly with the belt from his bathrobe) on June 8, 2018. Bourdain was found dead of suicide by hanging in his room at Le Chambard hotel in Kaysersberg, France.

There's a Weinstein thread connecting everything. Bourdain was dating actress Asia Argento. She's one of Harvey Weinstein's main accusers. Bourdain publically condemned Weinstein on many occasions and even outed Quention Tarrantino for having knowledge of Weinstein's abuse.
The fashion connection: Harvey Weinstein's wife is fashion designer Georgina Chapman who owns Marchesa. Two days ago Asia Argento called for a boycott on Marchesa because of the Weinstein connection (apparently he made his wife's label famous by forcing celebrity actresses to wear Marchesa gowns on the red carpet, including Gwyneth Paltrow). In response, Vogue's all-powerful Anna Wintour came out in support of Georgina Chapman and Marchesa.
The Kate Spade connection: Looks like Kate Spade's "sudden" success can also be attributed to celebrity actresses popping up on the red carpet with her bags. Did she and her husband Andy Spade make a deal with the devil Weinstein? Was Anna Wintour involved too? - Sibyl Hunter

"Three months after a Vogue editor spotted Brosnahan's table at a trade show, the magazine featured Kate Spade in its pages, right next to Gucci, no less. Suddenly industry insiders like Anna Wintour and Linda Wells were carrying Kate Spade bags, as were celebrities like Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow." Source.

It actually is true that Weinstein used former Mossad agents against those who would do him harm. Ronan Farrow, whose report for The New Yorker unearthed decades of sexual abuse allegations against the powerful Hollywood producer, had also revealed the frightening lengths to which Weinstein went to silence his accusers.

The Miramax producer hired Black Cube, run by former Israeli intelligence officers of Mossad, and Kroll, one of the biggest global corporate-intelligence firms, to gather details about the personal lives and sexual histories of dozens of actresses and journalists.

@Bourdain would tweet: "There’s a nauseating symmetry: both Trump and Weinstein used AMI(Enquirer) and Black Cube (Israeli private Intel) to do their dirty work" Source.

Inés Zorreguieta Cerruti

Inés Zorreguieta Cerruti was found dead at her apartment in Buenos Aires, having hanged herself on June 6, 2018. She is the sister of Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti (May 17, 1971), married in 2002 to Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. 

The Queen of the Netherlands' sister “hung herself” from her door knob. One conspiracy source says: "That particular Queen stepped down after allegations of having “hunts” where children were raped and massacred by her dinner guests." (There appears to be no confirmation that Queen Máxima of the Netherlands has "stepped down" nor was involved with the rumored dinner parties.

Kate Spade

Three days before Anthony Bourdain died, Kate Spade, 55, killed herself by hanging, 

Kate Spade (Katherine Noel Brosnahan) died by suicide on June 5, 2018. She used a scarf to kill herself. Her funeral was planned for June 21, 2018. News reports on the 21st noted her father, Earl Francis Brosnahan, 89, died on the eve of Spade's funeral of a "broken heart."

Kate Spade was also linked to Sex and the City. The widely popular show was another marketing tool for her bags: "I think of Kate Spade and Sex and the City together in many ways. This was how to be a woman who was independent, on her own, hopeful about the world, and yet could use fashion to say something. The fact that Kate Spade passed the same week of the 20th anniversary of the first airing of Sex and the City is striking."—The Washington Post
"2000: In a Sex and the City episode, Charlotte jokes that her tampons won’t fit in her Kate Spade purse." - ET

Mark Salling

Mark Wayne Salling (August 17, 1982 – January 30, 2018) was an American actor and musician. He appeared in Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996) and The Graveyard (2006), before gaining a recurring role in Glee in 2008.

On December 29, 2015, Salling was arrested at his Los Angeles home on suspicion of possessing several thousand photos and videos depicting child pornography, following a tip-off to police from one of his ex-girlfriends. He was released later on a $20,000 bailout but a search warrant found more than 50,000 images of child pornography, downloaded between April and December 2015 on his computer and USB flash drives.

The guilty plea was formalized on December 18, 2017, with Salling facing four to seven years in jail. Salling's sentencing date was set for March 2018. Salling was found dead from apparent suicide by hanging on January 30, 2018, near his home in the Sunland area of Los Angeles.

August Ames

August Ames (born Mercedes Grabowski; August 23, 1994 – December 5, 2017) was a Canadian American pornographic actress and model who appeared in almost 290 movies and was nominated for several AVN Awards throughout her career.

On December 5, 2017, Ames was found dead, approximately 20 minutes from her home in Camarillo, California, at the age of 23. Her death was ruled a suicide due to asphyxia by hanging by the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office.

Chester Bennington

Bennington was found dead at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California; his housekeeper discovered his body hanging from a doorknob around 9:00 a.m. PDT on July 20, 2017. Bennington picked the birthday of Chris Cornell to die.

His death was officially ruled as suicide.

On July 21, 2017, Brian Elias, the chief of operations for the office of the medical examiner-coroner, confirmed that a half-empty bottle of alcohol was found at the scene, but no other drugs were present.

Chris Cornell

Born Christopher John Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017, Chris Cornell was found unconscious by his bodyguard, hanging from the doorknob in the bathroom of his hotel room at the MGM Grand in Detroit, after performing at a show with Soundgarden at the Fox Theatre on May 17, 2017.
Cornell hung himself on May 18, 2017, the same date on which Ian Curtis, 23, lead singer of Joy Division (May 18, 1980), died by a hanging suicide in the kitchen of his house. Prior to his suicide, Curtis had watched Werner Herzog's 1977 film Stroszek and listened to Iggy Pop's album The Idiot. (See also, "The Hanging of Ian Curtis: A Legacy of Copycats.")

He was lying on the floor with an exercise band around his neck and blood in his mouth. An MGM medic and EMS personnel were unable to revive Cornell.

Cornell was pronounced dead by a doctor at 1:30 a.m. Police ruled out homicide by reviewing a hotel surveillance video, which showed nobody entering or exiting the suite after his bodyguard left at around 11:35 p.m.

The cause of death was determined to be “suicide by hanging.”

After Chris Cornell’s tragic death, one rumor later emerged that he was working with his best friend, Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, to expose an elite pedophile ring.

Chris and his wife set up a charity called the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation which works to help victims of child abuse.

Aaron Swartz

Aaron Hillel Swartz was an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, writer, political organizer, and Internet hacktivist who died January 11, 2013 by suicide by hanging. Aaron Schwartz hung himself on his doorknob after he hacked into MIT Computers and allegedly found a huge stash of child pornography.

In 2011, Swartz was arrested by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) police on state breaking-and-entering charges, after connecting a computer to the MIT network in an unmarked and unlocked closet, and setting it to download academic journal articles systematically from JSTOR using a guest user account issued to him by MIT.
On the evening of January 11, 2013, Swartz was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment by his partner, Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman. A spokeswoman for New York's Medical Examiner reported that he had hanged himself. No suicide note was found.

Robin Williams

On August 11, 2014, Robin Williams, 63, died at his home in Paradise Cay, California.

In the initial report released on August 12, 2014, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office deputy coroner stated Williams had hanged himself after he was found hanging from a doorknob with a necktie.

The final autopsy report, released in November 2014, ruled that Williams had died by suicide by hanging himself from the doorknob.

Neither alcohol nor illegal drugs were involved, while all prescription drugs present in his body were at “therapeutic” levels, the coroner declared.

L'Wren Scott

Kate Spade used the same method to kill herself - from a scarf from a door knob - as had been used by L'Wren Scott, 49, on St. Patrick's Day in 2014.

L'Wren Scott, (former girlfriend of Nat Rothschild) was found dead by her assistant at her apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan on March 17, 2014.

[In 1996, one of Nathaniel Philip Victor James Rothschild's (born 12 July 1971) cousins, Amschel, hanged himself at the age of 41. He was found hanged at the Hôtel Le Bristol Paris. Like Anthony Bourdain, in France with the belt from his bathrobe.]

The police reported that no note from Scott was found and there was no sign of foul play.

The New York City Chief Medical Examiner determined Scott’s manner and cause of death to be “suicide by hanging.” She was 49.

Laura "Luann" Bambrough (April 28, 1964 – March 17, 2014), known professionally as L'Wren Scott, was an American stylist and fashion designer.

A photo of dresses hanging from a tree which was posted on L’Wren Scott’s Facebook page hours after her death has been labeled an “eerie” coincidence. The posting was pre-written and pre-scheduled to automatically publish on her account.

Scott used a black satin scarf to kill herself in her ninth-floor duplex on 11th Avenue and West 24th Street, New York City.

L'Wren died on the birthday of fashion guru Alexander McQueen, who hanged himself in 2010.

Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen, a top designer, died by suicide by hanging - with a scarf on his closet doorknob - in 2010, being found in a closet. McQueen’s death was announced on the afternoon of February 11, 2010.

In the morning, his housekeeper found him hanging from a doorknob at his home in Green Street, London W1.

Paramedics were called and they pronounced him dead at the scene.

Three significant fashion designers pick the same method for their suicides.

Lee Alexander McQueen, CBE (March 17, 1969 – February 11, 2010) was a famed British fashion designer and couturier. McQueen died by suicide, at the age of forty, at his home in Mayfair, London. His mother had died on February 2, 2010. McQueen left a note saying, "Look after my dogs, sorry, I love you, Lee."

David Carradine

On June 3, 2009, at the age of 72, Hollywood actor David Carradine was found dead in his room at the Swissôtel Nai Lert Park Hotel on Wireless Road, near Sukhumvit Road, in central Bangkok, Thailand. He was in Bangkok to shoot his latest film, titled Stretch.

A police official said that Carradine was found naked, hanging by a rope tied to the doorknob of the room’s closet, causing immediate speculation that his death was suicide.

Reports around the time of his death suggest that Carradine may have been involved in child sex tourism; a rampant issue in Thailand where he was found.

Deborah Palfrey

Deborah Jeane Palfrey (March 18, 1956 – May 1, 2008) (dubbed the D.C. Madam by the news media) operated Pamela Martin and Associates, an escort agency in Washington, D.C. 

In October 2006, United States Postal Inspection Service agents posed as a couple who were interested in buying Palfrey's home as a means of accessing her property without a warrant. They soon seized papers relating to money laundering and prostitution charges.

In early 2007, Palfrey had reacted to the suicide by hanging of Brandi Britton, one of her former escort service employees, by saying, "I guess I'm made of something that Brandi Britton wasn't made of."

Although she maintained that the company's services were legal, she was convicted on April 15, 2008 of racketeering, using the mail for illegal purposes, and money laundering. Slightly over two weeks later, facing a prison sentence of five or six years, she was found hanged. On May 1, 2008, Palfrey was found hanging in a storage shed outside her mother's mobile home in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Autopsy results and the final police investigative report concluded that her death was a suicide.

Michael Hutchence

Michael Kelland John Hutchence (January 22, 1960 – November 22, 1997) was an Australian musician and actor. He was a founding member, lead singer and lyricist of rock band INXS from 1977 until his death on November 22, 1997.

Michael Hutchence hung himself from his doorknob. Hutchence, aged 37, was found dead in Room 524 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Double Bay, Sydney.

Chris Acland

Christopher John Dyke Acland (September 7, 1966 – October 17, 1996) was an English musician. He was the drummer of the London-based shoegazing and Britpop band Lush.

On October 17, 1996, after Lush had completed their tour and music festival appearances, and two days after Anderson announced a desire to quit the band, Acland hanged himself in his parents' garden in Burneside, Cumbria. His bandmates in Lush were devastated and disbanded after a period of mourning.

Keel Saw Tomorrows

by Loren Coleman

John A. Keel knew that it wasn't about "predicting" as much as "looking for patterns." As we come out of this "recession," it is good to recall his insights.

At Fortfest 1992, John A. Keel discussed his research findings (mostly ufological & hints of the cryptozoological) keyed to "pivotal years," e.g. 1848, 1968, 1973, and 1975. In the last 60 seconds of this video, Keel was asked about the interrelationship of Forteana and economic collapses.

Anomalist Books Editor-in-Chief Patrick Huyghe remarked after hearing of his 2009 death, "John Keel was our Michael Jackson."

After Keel's 1975 book was adapted into the 2002 film, The Mothman Prophecies, "Mothman" became a household name. However, among a select few, it was John Keel that was the star, not the monster. One of our own had crossed over and had a big tent Hollywood movie made from one of his books.

In January 2002, when the film was first released, Fortean historian and author Jerome Clark said that he felt a sense of sincere pride for John Keel when he saw Keel's name flash on the movie theater screen. It was a good moment.

Among the press, the Point Pleasant Daily Register shared this: "As several celebrity deaths have swept the nation in recent weeks, perhaps the closest to the area is the death of John Keel."

John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies author, stood with Point Pleasant, West Virginia's Main Street Director Charles Humphreys prior to the official unveiling of the Mothman Statue at Gunn Park in 2002. Keel died on Friday, July 3, 2009.

Certainly a focus among the Fortean, cryptozoological, and ufological communities, it was good to see in the days following Keel's passing a new awareness of him in the mainstream media:

"Keel, writer of 'Mothman Prophecies,' dies at 79."

Newsday, New York.

"'Mothman Prophecies' Writer, Keel, Dies At 79."

WCBS-TV New York

"John Keel."

Associated Press.

"Keel, writer of 'Mothman Prophecies,' dies at 79."

WTEN - Albany, New York

Cryptomundo links included:

John A. Keel Has Died, July 6, 2009.

Keel Ends Life Rather Alone, July 7, 2009.

C2C: Keel Tribute, July 7, 2007.

Vallée & Keel, July 7, 2009.

Garuda: Harbinger of Doom, from an Indian postcard, being sold by a New York City vendor on a walk home from Keel's apartment. Credit: Doug Skinner.

At top, at his birthday party in 1994, John A. Keel is the Fortean/demonologist, the man in black, shown with Fortean/cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, in a photo by the Fortean/anomalist Patrick Huyghe.

On July 3rd, in 1969, Brian Jones, English musician and member of The Rolling Stones died. On July 3rd, in 1971, Jim Morrison, the Lizard King and American leader of The Doors died. On July 3rd, in 2009, another kind of rock star, the Mothman king, John A. Keel died.

Death Threats Phoned To Casting Directors

On November 7, 2010, five casting directors in the Los Angeles area received death threats via their office telephones. All reported the threats to Teamsters Local 399 , which represents Hollywood industry casting directors. Local police and their studios were notified.

Teamsters business representative Ed Duffy, who confirmed to the blog Back Stage that the threats took place, sent a mass email to members of the L.A. casting community warning them of the phone calls and encouraging anyone else who has been threatened to come forward. On November 15, 2010, a sixth casting director came forth telling of another death threat. Duffy would not identify the members threatened. 

"It's a pretty low blow to do something like that to these casting directors," Duffy said. "Whether it's a reality or not, it has to be taken seriously."

Of course, then on Tuesday November 16, 2010, famed publicist Ronni Chasen was shot multiple times while driving her Mercedes-Benz through Beverly Hills on her way home from the premiere of Cher and Christina Aguilera's new film Burlesque. She died after being transported to a local hospital.

Mystery Death: Mac Tonnies, 34

Why do some people die so young, and all we hear is that they passed away of "natural causes"? The two pieces of information do not compute.

Mac Tonnies, 34, a rising intellectual presence in Fortean thought, the "Posthuman Blues" blogger, and the author of the forthcoming book, The Cryptoterrestrials (Anomalist Books, 2010), has departed this plane. He was found dead in his apartment on Thursday afternoon, October 22, 2009. Reports indicate that there was no foul play or suicide involved, and "natural causes" are being blamed for his sudden and unexpected death. There is some indication that he may have been feeling "faint" in the days leading up to his death.

I never met Mac, but he did correspond a few times with me. In April 2008, he was curious about a mysterious graffiti artist that had popped up in his town, who was leaving iconic Nessie stencils around and about. He wrote me and asked if I'd heard about any other incidents like it happening around the country. I posted a brief note on CryptoZooNews about the cryptoart.

The title of Mac's forthcoming book, The Cryptoterrestrials, also, of course, interested me. In talks I had with his publisher, Patrick Huyghe, I understood it would be a book that extended the thoughts of John Keel's ultraterrestrials. I looked forward to seeing what new take Tonnies had on it all, and was open to hearing if cryptozoology played into his intellectual ponderings.

Mac Tonnies had the potential to ask some challenging questions. That seemed to have scared some people.

Strangely, Mac's name appeared at the end of the "death list" of people that a group of extremely youthful ufologists placed in their infamous posting of March 22, 2008, 19 months or so, before the day of Tonnies' death. The so-called "RRRGroup," in their "UFO PROVOCATEUR(S)" blog entry entitled "Death(s) will clean the UFO palate," listed the names of people whom they almost seemed to be wishing would die more quickly so the "future" of the field could dawn more quickly.

They wrote:

When ufology’s old-guard passes on – Dick Hall, Stan Friedman, Kevin Randall, John Schuessler, and even the 60ish Jerry Clark to name a few – taking hangers-on and sycophants with them (and you know who they are), the UFO palate will be cleansed.

That is, the mummified concepts of ufology will be washed away, and new paradigms will be allowed to flourish.

Standing in the wings already is a group of middle-agers who, while not particularly astute about the UFO history and inclined to be cavalier with their observations and characterizations of ufology and UFOs themselves, think they are the news faces of ufology, which is a mantle they hope to change.

Those people include Paul Kimball, Nick Redfern, Greg Bishop, and Mac Tonnies.

...Once the old-guard is gone, and the mid-lifers dismissed because of their foolishness, the young crop of UFO mavens’ newer ideas will hold sway with the public and media....

Blood mixed with ink.

I wrote in their comment section at the time:

It seems incredible to really read these words: "...the young crop of UFO mavens’ newer ideas will hold sway with the public and media, because this new generation isn’t conscripted by former old-think about UFOs, presenting instead original thought and pursuit of the UFO mystery..."
Being a radical Fortean observer watching the coming and going of all matter of writers, researchers, and theorists in the last four decades, you have given me a good chuckle.

Every "new" generation sees themselves as having the "real" solutions or the next best outside-the-box suggestions. Of course, it will only be something you will reflect upon when the next generation after you, the new group of "Young Ones" start nibbling at your aging heels, [and] says something similar to you.

It's always been that way, and it will continue so into the future.

Besides being intellectually dishonest, such a critique as the one from the RRR group has no sense of history or reality. But in terms of karma, frankly, I think it is bad form to put names out there of people you almost seem to be wishing were dead. I am shocked, therefore, to see that Mac Tonnies, the last name on the RRR list, along with Dick Hall, the first one, both now have died. Sad indeed.

The tributes for Tonnies, as often happens in a surprising death like this are pouring in from his deep friends. I recommend those of Nick Redfern, Greg Bishop, and many other of his true friends.

Mac's last tweet was on October 18th, 2009, and he pointed to "sculptural manifestations of audio footage."

I want to leave you with Mac's own words, as he has summed up his own life, here below, from his self-authored biography. Good-bye, Mac:

I'm a Kansas City, Missouri-based author and essayist. I blog daily at Posthuman Blues and tweet religiously. My latest book is After the Martian Apocalypse (Paraview Pocket Books, 2004), a speculative and generally well-received examination of extraterrestrial intelligence on the Red Planet. I'm presently at work on a new non-fiction book titled The Cryptoterrestrials: Indigenous Humanoids and the Aliens Among Us, excerpts of which I've posted on my blog. If you're in the mood for a multiplex Fortean anthology, my essay "The Ancients Are Watching" is included in 2008's Darklore Vol. II. (My first book, Illumined Black, is a collection of naively "Blade Runner"-ish science fiction short-stories. It can still be found in used-book stores and on Amazon.com.)

I've been a guest panelist at ConQuest, Kansas City's premiere science fiction convention. More recently, I've lectured in the United States and Canada on subjects ranging from exoarchaeology to transhumanism and have appeared on programs such as Coast to Coast AM, Strange Days . . . Indeed, 21st Century Radio, The Paracast, Binnall of America, and Radio Misterioso. My first play, produced and directed by Paul Kimball, debuted in Halifax, Nova Scotia in late 2007. In early 2009 I appeared as the "investigator" in an episode of "Supernatural Investigator," a Canadian program covering fringe beliefs and esoteric science. I also make an appearance in "Best Evidence," an award-winning UFO documentary.

I spend an inordinately large portion of my time pursuing unpopular ideas and esoteric theories with what I sincerely hope is balanced skepticism. I'm a member of the Society for Planetary SETI Research, a group that seeks to use scientific methodology to explore the possibility of extraterrestrial artifacts in our solar system. I read voraciously; preoccupations include cosmology, nonhuman intelligence, UFOs, consciousness studies, and futurism. Writers I admire include William Gibson, Philip K. Dick and William S. Burroughs.

I tend to think in the future-tense. I'm a skeptic, agnostic and existentialist; I perceive reality as a kind of consensual hallucination that forces us to define our sense of identity without recourse to faith or superstition. I have a deep affinity for 80s pop music; some of my favorite bands are The Cure, R.E.M., Portishead, Talking Heads, and The Smiths. Favorite film-makers include David Cronenberg and David Lynch. I can regularly be found haunting the Country Club Plaza, taking pictures, reading cyberpunk novels, and marinating my synapses in espresso. And I'm a voracious doodler.

Statement:

Consciousness is a potential technology; we are exquisite machines, nothing less than sentient patterns. As such, there's no convincing technical reason we can't eventually upload ourselves into matrices of our design and choosing. It's likely the phenomenon we casually call "intelligence" will cease to be strictly biological as we begin to merge with our machines more meaningfully and intimately. (Philip K. Dick once wrote that "living and nonliving things are exchanging properties." I suspect that in a few hundred years, barring disaster, separating the animate from the inanimate will probably be an exercise in futility.) Ultimately, we have two options: self-mutate by venturing off-planet in minds and bodies of our own design, or succumb to extinction.