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Ian David Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 07:18 AM
Original message
Chatroom users 'egged on father to kill himself live on webcam'
23.03.07

A father-of-two hanged himself live over the internet in Britain's first 'cyber suicide'.

Kevin Whitrick, 42, took his life after being goaded by dozens of chatroom users from across the world who initially believed he was play acting.

But as they watched in horror, Mr Whitrick climbed onto a chair, smashed through a ceiling and then hanged himself with a piece of rope.



<snip>

Last night it emerged that Mr Whitrick had been suffering from depression after being badly injured in a car crash last year.

Friends said that the breakdown of his marriage with wife, Paula - with whom he had 12-year-old twins - and the recent death of his father had also been causing him some distress.

<snip>

"Some of us chatroom users, talking to Kevin over text chat, microphones and video tried to convince him to step down, but others egged him on telling him to get on with it.

"We just couldn't believe he was doing it - it was surreal.

"One chatter said: 'F***ing do it, get on with it, get it round your neck. For F***'s sake he can't even do this properly'."

More:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23390052-details/British+man+commits+suicide+on+live+webcam/article.do
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liberal renegade Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 07:36 AM
Response to Original message
1. I hope they're all proud of themselves!
:sarcasm: heartless bastards......
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liberal renegade Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 07:38 AM
Response to Original message
2. I'm sure this will be just 1 of many more to come...
a new trend for the internets?
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gorbal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 08:04 AM
Response to Original message
3. That was an "Insult" chat room
If you read abut the chat room in the article, it is where people go to insult each other. Perhaps he went there to build up his will to die.

Poor guy:( Look at the sadness in those eyes.
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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 08:09 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. To willfully allow insulting each other is... BARBARIC.
Hmmm, this was a bad day to stop moralizing... I just can't believe such sites exist, which help further our society into a degenerative state, of decay.



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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 08:05 AM
Response to Original message
4. I think the students should kill themselves. May I egg them on too?
:sarcasm:

Now for the real talk, I think the little ****ers need to be taught a lesson about cherishing life. If any of them calls themselves Christian, they need to be reminded what it's about.

Those brats are an example of our children, our future leaders? :scared::scared::scared::scared::scared:

And some people once call ME devolved (don't ask for the details... some around here won't like reality.)

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Clark2008 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 08:49 AM
Response to Reply #4
6. Well, this, at least is somewhat redeeming: they thought it
was a hoax:

Today distraught users of the site said that they felt sick and had previously thought the web broadcast was a hoax.

They confirmed Mr Whitrick told friends in the internet chat room of his plans to kill himself but, thinking he was joking, they egged him on telling him to make sure the his webcam was on.

Mr Whitrick, using the user-name Shyboy-17-1, switched on his webcam and went ahead with his grisly plan.

One anonymous user said: "He tied a rope around an uncovered ceiling joist and stood on the chair as he tied the rope around his neck.

"Some of us chatroom users, talking to Kevin over text chat, microphones and video tried to convince him to step down, but others egged him on telling him to get on with it.

"We just couldn't believe he was doing it - it was surreal.

"One chatter said: 'F***ing do it, get on with it, get it round your neck. For F***'s sake he can't even do this properly'."

Another user who did not wish to be named said: "When Kevin stepped off the chair and was left dangling, the mood in the chatroom changed and people began to realise what they had just seen.


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Blue_Roses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 08:52 AM
Response to Original message
7. omg
what is wrong with these people:crazy:
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ikojo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 09:01 AM
Response to Reply #7
8. Interesting that they are Brits...from the only country
to reselutely stand behind GWB in his chosen war. What is wrong with the Brits and Americans? I think this could easily happen here in the US.

I have a buddy in the local scooter rider's group and she was DELIGHTED to see Saddam Hussein hang and bragged about watching the hanging video over and over on youtube.

We are a sick war like people in need of recovery from war.
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GCP Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 09:06 AM
Response to Reply #8
10. Excuse me - the VAST Majority of Britons were defiantly against the War
They marched against it in numbers far outnumbering Americans, although the population is a sixth of the USA. :grr:
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 09:14 AM
Response to Reply #8
12. I think this could easily happen anywhere....
It happens everyday in the US!!!

Brits have nothing to do with it. It's people!!!! Fucked up people!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Man Pleads Not Guilty In Double Slaying

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/11347938/detail.html

Woman, Child Found Dead In Brockton

POSTED: 1:10 pm EDT March 23, 2007

BROCKTON, Mass. --

A man accused of murdering his wife and 9-year-old daughter told police he snapped after his
prescription for the antidepressant Prozac ran out, a prosecutor said at his arraignment Friday.

Mark Benoit, 42, also told police he strangled his daughter because he didn't want to leave her
alone, according to Assistant District Attorney Courtney Cahill. The bodies of Benoit's wife,
Cynthia, and daughter, Sarah, were found by police after Benoit called 911 Thursday morning.

He was ordered held without bail after pleading not guilty to two counts of murder at his
arraignment at Brockton District Court.



What's love got to do with it?"



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bullwinkle428 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 09:15 AM
Response to Reply #8
13. Hell, there were people here at DU getting their rocks off over
the Saddam hanging the night it took place...maybe the saddest experience I've had here at DU since becoming a member.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 09:05 AM
Response to Original message
9. That is totally fucked up!
Edited on Sat Mar-24-07 09:06 AM by Breeze54
People are friggin' sick in this 'New World Order'. :grr:

:puke:

But the decision; despite the a-holes egging him on; was his decision.

He made that choice.
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SheWhoMustBeObeyed Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-24-07 09:08 AM
Response to Original message
11. Crowds tell jumpers to leap, too
He was looking for the impetus. He wanted the goading.

I have great empathy for the suicidal, but not so much for those who make others unwitting accessories to their deaths.
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