Suicide of Kevin Whitrick

Kevin Whitrick
Born Kevin Neil Whitrick
(1964-08-17)17 August 1964
Cross Houses, Shrewsbury
Died 21 March 2007(2007-03-21) (aged 42)
Wellington, Telford, Shropshire, UK
Occupation Engineer
Spouse(s) Paula Whitrick

Kevin Neil Whitrick (17 August 1964 – 21 March 2007) was a British citizen and an electrical engineer.[1] Whitrick's death was highly publicised for his live, online webcast suicide.

Biography

Marriage and children

At the time of his death, he was married to his wife Paula. At the time of his death Kevin lived apart from his family after the breakdown of his marriage two years previously.[2]

Suicide

On the day of his death, Kevin Whitrick was in a chatroom on PalTalk and was joined by about 60 other users in a special "insult" chatroom where people "have a go at each other".[2] He stood on a chair, punched a hole in his ceiling and placed a rope around a joist, and then tied the other end around his neck, then stepped off the chair. Some people thought this was a prank, until his face started turning blue. Some people in the chat room egged him on while others tried desperately to find his address. A member in the room contacted the police, who arrived at the scene two minutes later. Kevin Whitrick was pronounced dead at 11:15 pm. GMT.[1]

Aftermath

The death has been reported in the press and is notable due to fear it might inspire other suicides,[3] the possibility of the webcam footage being made available on the internet,[4] and discussions over the culpability of web users who encouraged the man.

The police detectives traced about 100 chatroom users to question them about their role in the cyber suicide.[5] The Crown Prosecution Service has stated that none of the chatroom users will face criminal charges.[6]

Similar incidents

  • Brandon Vedas died of an unintentional drug overdose while engaged in an internet chat, as shown on his webcam.[7]
  • Abraham Biggs, 19, committed suicide by consuming significant quantities of prescription drugs, and streaming his suicide live on Justin.tv under the name feels_like_ecstacy. Before he fell unconscious and subsequently died, Biggs was also chatting on a body building forum, where he had reportedly threatened to commit suicide on numerous occasions.[8]
  • Suicide of Océane Ebem, an eighteen-year-old woman from Égly in the suburbs of Paris, who on 10 May 2016 livestreamed a long video testimonial before throwing herself under a train.[9]
  • Katelyn Nicole Davis, a 12-year-old girl from Polk County, Georgia who livestreamed herself hanging on 30 December 2016.[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Bale, Joanna (24 March 2007). "Get on with it, said net audience as man hanged himself on webcam". The Times. Archived from the original on 6 April 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Chatroom users 'egged on father to kill himself live on webcam'". London Evening Standard. 24 March 2007. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  3. ↑ Live hanging shown on web – Alberta suicide-prevention groups brace for copycat deaths Archived 28 March 2007 at Archive.is
  4. ↑ Keep online suicide footage offline: police Archived 29 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Ungoed-Thomas, Jon (26 March 2007). "Police consider charging chatroom users for inciting cyber suicide". The Australian. Retrieved 27 May 2007.
  6. ↑ "No charges over 'suicide' on web". BBC News. 26 May 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2007.
  7. ↑ "Net grief for online 'suicide'" BBC News, 4 February 2003.
  8. ↑ "Florida teen kills self in front of live webcam"Reuters.com
  9. ↑ Dasgupta, Rana (29 August 2017). "The first social media suicide". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  10. ↑ Dukes, Deidra (11 January 2017). "Girl's 'suicide video' sparks outrage online". WAGA. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
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