Another Legislator Suicide

Brandon Anotone Hixon (October 26, 1981 – January 9, 2018) was a Republican Idaho State Representative from December 1, 2012 to October 19, 2017 representing District 10 in the A seat.

On October 18, 2017, the Caldwell, Idaho, police department confirmed that Hixon was the subject of a criminal investigation. On October 19, 2017, he submitted his letter of resignation via email to House Speaker Scott Bedke and Governor Butch Otter, effective immediately. On October 26, 2017, the Caldwell Police Department turned the criminal investigation over to the Idaho Attorney General's Office. On October 31, 2017 it was reported that Hixon was under investigation for "sexual abuse allegations" from a police report dated October 25, 2017.

Hixon, former Republican state lawmaker from Boise, Idaho who was facing a sexual abuse investigation shot and killed himself, authorities said on Tuesday, January 9, 2018.

Brandon Hixon was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in his Caldwell home early Tuesday, January 9, 2018, Canyon County Coroner Vicki DeGeus-Morris said. A family member discovered his body. Some say because he did in fact have those sexual relations.He was 36 years old.

Officials have released no details about the criminal investigation into Hixon, 36, except that it was related to possible sexual abuse. Records obtained by The Associated Press show that he was previously the focus of a separate police investigation in 2014 after being accused of inappropriate touching.

At the time, Hixon denied the accusations and told police he was worried they would harm his political career. It’s unknown if the new investigation, ongoing since Oct. 5, was connected to the earlier case.

Hixon and his wife, Danielle, had five children, ages 6 to 17. They divorced in 2016.

Hixon was elected in 2012, becoming one of the youngest lawmakers to win a seat in the Idaho House of Representatives. He didn’t stand out during his time in the Statehouse until he abruptly resigned in October after the sexual abuse investigation emerged.

After stepping down, Hixon was arrested twice for drunken driving and was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest last month.

Hixon’s death comes after two recent others have died by suicide, after recent sexual misconduct investigations.

On December 20, 2017, James Csaszar jumped from the heights of the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, a sleek ultramodern skyscraper reaching 82-stories into Chicago's downtown skyline. Until November 2017, Csaszar had worked as a Catholic priest at the Church of the Resurrection in New Albany, Ohio. (See more, here.)

On December 13, 2017, Kentucky lawmaker Dan Johnson shot and killed himself last year after a report was published detailing allegations that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl in his basement in 2012. He had denied the accusations. After he shot himself on a bridge in Mount Washington, southeast of Louisville, Kentucky. Johnson was an American evangelical pastor and Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. (See more, here.)

Brandon Antonoe Hixon:

Brandon
The name Brandon is an English name with the meaning of the name Brandon being derived from a surname and place name based on the Old English for "hill covered with broom." Broom is a prolific weed. Also Brandon can mean, "From the beacon hill."


Antonoe
In English the meaning of the source name Antonis is "highly praiseworthy." It derives from a Roman clan name. In the 17th century, the spelling Anthony was associated with the Greek anthos meaning "flower."


Hixon
English surname Hixon means "son of Hick". Hick was a pet name for Richard. The Germanic first or given name Richard derives from German, French, and English "ric" (ruler, leader, king, powerful) and "hard" (strong, brave, hardy), and it therefore means "strong in rule".

Idaho Phantom Clown Incident

Idaho is the latest location of a "Phantom Clown" sighting.  

The incident occurred on Monday, April 23, 2012, on seemingly appropriately named streets:

Idaho Falls police said they received a report of three suspicious males, one wearing a clown mask, driving in a red SUV, offering candy to two 8-year-old boys.
The boys were approached on Moonlite Drive and Morningstar Lane.
The boys did not respond to the trio, but went home immediately and reported Monday's incident to a parent.
Giovi Castillo, also 8, said one of the boys is his best friend. After he heard about the incident, Giovi has been having trouble sleeping.
"I was afraid that he might maybe, maybe steal someone around the neighborhood or something," said Giovi. "I don't know. I'm kind of just a little scared, maybe. ... I'm not going down Moonlite anymore because it's a little busier street than these ones over here."
But for Giovi, the fear remains. His father, Vani, said it makes him nervous, too.
Paul Murray of the IFPD said that when the sun comes out and stays out, kids are out more often, and caught in "stranger danger."
"It's important that they know when they're out in the neighborhoods that they're aware of who exactly their parents would allow them to take rides from," said Murray.
Police know little about the SUV and its occupants. If you have any information, call Public Safety at (208) 529-1200.
Officers said the boys acted appropriately, and Giovi said he knows what to do if he finds himself in that situation.
"Not to talk to them and not to take rides from them," he said. "I would have done the same thing as my friends, just run."

The rest of the source article has a list of things to do if you encounter a clown kidnapper.

For more on "Phantom Clowns," see Mysterious America (NY: Simon and Schuster, 2006). For more on symbolic criminal behavior, see The Copycat Effect (NY: Simon and Schuster, 2004). See this blog for other evil clown activity, including listings, such as this one for 2011.

Thanks for the newstip from Robert Schneck.