[LokiOfAsgard]

I remember that day. They sent us home from school because it was snowing, I was eating lunch and the tv station interrupted to air his press conference. Yeah, I saw it live.

[dyannalane]

Originally Posted by Metal Mike ↗

I've seen the documentary about him. It's called "Honest Man," and it really does endear Dwyer to the viewer. I, for one, believe he was innocent. The governor of Pennsylvania at the time pretty much railroaded him when he refused to sign off on the release of state taxpayers' funds to cover a variety of the governor's personal expenses and dalliances. Dwyer was accused of accepting a bribe in exchange for awarding a state contract to a company that was designing a computer program designed to calculate the amount of overpayment that state employees had made on their federal taxes.

The evidence against him was highly questionable. He never received the bribe he was accused of accepting (so no paper trail) and at least one of the people that testified against him did so after being intimidated by third parties. They also moved the trial from the state capitol -- where a more learned jury would have been available -- out to the sticks for the purpose of seating a jury that was largely ignorant of the ins-and-outs of the charges and the evidence at hand.

The main reason he chose suicide was to protect his family financially. He had been a state employee for most of his life, had racked up a sizable pension (something around $1.5M, if I remember correctly) as a result, and was exploiting a loophole in Pennsylvania state law that stated that the pensions of state officials convicted of felonies was forfeit only after the sentencing phase had been concluded. He held this press conference on the day he was scheduled to be sentenced, prior to the proceeding itself. His family received the full pension.

It's a sad story, really. Even though he was a politician, Dwyer was a good guy. He got fucked over for refusing to play ball with the cronyism and good-ol'-boy culture so prevalent in American politics. He never would have had to serve his full sentence, but his family would have wound up financially ruined. So he did what he thought was best by them, and I can respect him for it.

Also, I'd like to see the full speech should you ever get around to posting it. I've searched high and low for it to no avail.

Yes! Great doc about him....I believe he was innocent as well!

[dyannalane]

Originally Posted by joak ↗

i never paid attention to the whole story, but i've seen the video probably a dozen times.

didn't some guy recently admit to giving false testimony or some shit?

that's fucked up.

This is one of the first REAL gore bid I ever saw... like
over 20 years ago! Still even now the amount of blood fountaining through his mouth and nose F*#KS me up ! Poor man....he did it to save his wife and family the embarrassment his prison sentence would have caused them. A sentence for a crime he DID NOT commit BTW!

[Ninjavandal]

An all-time classic! Thank you for posting it.

[DifferentEraPixie]

Also wanted to note if no one had already that the man that testified and gave false testimony was also found guilty of helping his son with a murder. I don’t know if anyone has heard of the girl that was found dead in the suitcase and had to be identified by her tattoo but she was dating the son of the man that gave a false testimony. I thought it was an interesting tidbit.

[dolbored]

Originally Posted by sparkle03 ↗

I always remember hearing someone say "Please people...let's show a little decorum." That was in one of those faces of death documentaries. This was the first death video I had ever seen.

yes - i have never seen the preceding portion of the speech but the copy I used to watch continued for a bit longer with one of Dwyers Aids standing in front of his still bleeding body asking for Decorum. Camera zooms in on his face a few more times.

[Bletch]

The vid which introduced me to gore!

[booboo2718]

Originally Posted by Metal Mike ↗

I've seen the documentary about him. It's called "Honest Man," and it really does endear Dwyer to the viewer. I, for one, believe he was innocent. The governor of Pennsylvania at the time pretty much railroaded him when he refused to sign off on the release of state taxpayers' funds to cover a variety of the governor's personal expenses and dalliances. Dwyer was accused of accepting a bribe in exchange for awarding a state contract to a company that was designing a computer program designed to calculate the amount of overpayment that state employees had made on their federal taxes.

The evidence against him was highly questionable. He never received the bribe he was accused of accepting (so no paper trail) and at least one of the people that testified against him did so after being intimidated by third parties. They also moved the trial from the state capitol -- where a more learned jury would have been available -- out to the sticks for the purpose of seating a jury that was largely ignorant of the ins-and-outs of the charges and the evidence at hand.

The main reason he chose suicide was to protect his family financially. He had been a state employee for most of his life, had racked up a sizable pension (something around $1.5M, if I remember correctly) as a result, and was exploiting a loophole in Pennsylvania state law that stated that the pensions of state officials convicted of felonies was forfeit only after the sentencing phase had been concluded. He held this press conference on the day he was scheduled to be sentenced, prior to the proceeding itself. His family received the full pension.

It's a sad story, really. Even though he was a politician, Dwyer was a good guy. He got fucked over for refusing to play ball with the cronyism and good-ol'-boy culture so prevalent in American politics. He never would have had to serve his full sentence, but his family would have wound up financially ruined. So he did what he thought was best by them, and I can respect him for it.

Also, I'd like to see the full speech should you ever get around to posting it. I've searched high and low for it to no avail.

I appreciate your post but I have to point out the following: The reason any trial is moved is precisely for the reason of selecting a jury who IS ignorant of the facts of the case. They want a jury who will be fair and unbiased.

[booboo2718]

Originally Posted by Bletch ↗

The vid which introduced me to gore!

Same for me. I saw this a few years ago and it was the first time I realized just how much blood comes pouring out of a body when a person shoots himself in the head. I was shocked.

[Peccatoris]

That's why I say "hey man, nice shot."