Possible or disputed suicides
- Clodius Albinus (197), Roman emperor, killed himself after a defeat in battle (possibly executed by Septimius Severus) [1]
- Prince Alfred of Edinburgh (1899), member of the British royal family. The exact circumstances of Alfred's death are unknown, and varying accounts have been published. His sister Marie's memoirs simply say his health "broke down", and other writers have said that he had "consumption". [2] : 62 The Times published an account stating he had died of a tumor, [2] : 62 while The Complete Peerage gives the generally accepted account that he "shot himself". [3] [4]
- Gameel Al-Batouti (1999), Egyptian pilot of Egyptair and former officer of the Egyptian Air Force who was killed in the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990. It is disputed on whether or not it was caused by mechanical malfunction or by Al-Batouti in a suicide by pilot [5]
- Suchir Balaji (2024), American artificial intelligence researcher who died several weeks after making accusations against his ex-employer, OpenAI. Both the San Francisco police and the Chief Medical Examiner concluded that his death was a suicide. Balaji's family insist that he was killed. [6]
- Scotty Beckett (1968), American actor, an overdose of either barbiturates or alcohol, after seeking medical attention for blunt force trauma injuries following a severe beating [7] [8]
- Wade Belak (2011), Canadian ice hockey player. Belak was found dead in his home in Toronto, and the police investigated his death as a suicide. [9] Later, hockey analyst and former player P. J. Stock alleged that Belak's death was not a suicide, but accidental. [10] Although Stock later stepped back from his comments, members of Belak's family also believe his death was accidental. [11]
- Edward Brittain (1918), British army captain, gunshot by enemy sniper, to whom Brittain may have deliberately exposed himself, to avoid a court-martial for homosexuality [12] [13]
- Terry A. Davis (2018), American programmer and creator of TempleOS, struck by a train [14]
- Jeffrey Epstein (2019), American financier and convicted sex offender, hanging. [15] Whether Epstein's death was suicide or homicide is a point of controversy. [16]
- Lolo Ferrari (2000), French pornographic actress, dancer, singer, and Guinness World Record holder, antidepressant and heroin overdose. Ferrari had been depressed, and while her death was ruled a suicide, it is speculated that her husband killed her. After it was found that mechanically induced suffocation could not be ruled out, her husband was arrested. He was released from prison after 13 months, after a second autopsy was performed. [17]
- John Fitch (1798), American inventor, opium overdose [18]
- James Forrestal (1949), First U.S. Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Navy, fell from 16th floor of building (disputed suicide) [19]
- Rick Genest (2018), performance artist, actor and model, fall from a balcony [20] [21]
- Kurt Gödel (1978), Austrian-American logician, mathematician and philosopher, died of starvation as a result of refusing to eat anything not prepared by his wife, who was hospitalized, out of fear of being poisoned. It is unclear whether this was a suicide. [22]
- Nigel Green (1972), English actor, overdose of sleeping pills [23]
- Hannibal (183–181 BC), [24] Carthaginian military commander and tactician, possibly poison [25] [26]
- Judas Iscariot (AD 30 or 33), Apostle turned betrayer of Jesus, hanged himself according to the Gospel of Matthew; [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] the Book of Acts suggests he died in an accidental fall, [37] [38] [39] while the apocryphical Gospel of Judas suggests he was stoned to death by the other Apostles [40]
- Ho Ka-i (1953), Soviet and North Korean politician and operative, officially died of suicide by gunshot but an assassination also seems likely. [41]
- Sung-jae Kim (1995), South Korean singer and former member of Deux, stabbed in the arm 28 times with a syringe containing animal anesthetic. It is unknown if it was a murder or suicide. [42]
- David Koresh (1993), American leader of the Branch Davidians, gunshot. It is unknown if he was murdered by one of the Branch Davidians, or if he died by suicide. [43]
- Jules Lequier (1862), French philosopher, likely swam voluntarily out into the ocean [44]
- Primo Levi (1987), Italian chemist, writer and Holocaust survivor, jumped from his third-story apartment [45]
- Gilbert N. Lewis (1946), American chemist, cyanide poisoning. It is disputed whether he had a heart attack or died by suicide. [46]
- Meriwether Lewis (1809), US explorer and partner of William Clark, gunshot. There is some debate as to whether his death was a suicide. [47]
- Lucretius (c. 55 BC), Roman poet and Epicurean philosopher. The only source of his suicide is Jerome, who is considered by scholars as unreliable and hostile towards Lucretius [48]
- Kizito Mihigo (2020), Rwandan gospel singer, genocide survivor and peace activist, hanging. Human rights organisations and Rwandan activists challenged this. [49]
- Unity Mitford, (1948), British socialite and Nazi sympathiser, died eight years after shooting herself of injuries caused by the bullet; debatable if this counts as suicide [50]
- Alighiero Noschese (1979), Italian TV impersonator, gunshot while being recovered under care for clinical depression. As patients with depression are not permitted to possess firearms and other lethal objects, it was suspected that someone murdered Noschese or smuggled the gun to him. [51]
- Orgetorix (60 BC), Gallic member of the ruling class of the Helvetii and conspirator. It is uncertain if he died by suicide or was executed. [52]
- Liam Payne (2024), member of the boyband One Direction. Died by falling of the 3rd floor balcony of a hotel. He might have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It is unsure whether he fell or jumped. Autopsy revealed he did not protect himself while falling. [53]
- Giuseppe Pinelli (1969), Italian anarchist, fall from police station window, police claim of suicide widely disputed [54]
- John William Polidori (1821), English writer and physician, ingestion of hydrogen cyanide. The coroner gave a verdict of death by natural causes despite strong evidence of suicide [55]
- Freddie Prinze (1977), American actor and comedian, gunshot to the head while under the influence of methaqualone and alcohol. His death was initially ruled suicide, [56] [57] but his mother and other loved ones successfully convinced a court to change the official cause of death to accidental. [58]
- Bernardo Sassetti (2012), Portuguese jazz pianist and film composer, fell or jumped off a cliff to the sea (a nearby fisherman said he saw him jump). [59]
- Elliott Smith (2003), American singer, songwriter and musician, stab wounds to chest. While Smith's death was originally reported as a suicide, the official autopsy report released in December 2003 left open the question of homicide. [60] [61]
- Socrates (399 BC), Classical Greek Athenian philosopher, credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, poison (likely hemlock) [62] [63] [64] [65] Because Socrates was forced to poison himself to death as his sentence following his conviction for impiety and corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, the question of whether this constitutes a genuine suicide is a subject of debate. [66]
- John Hanning Speke (1864), British explorer, gunshot. [67] An inquest concluded that his death was accidental, a conclusion supported by Speke's biographer Alexander Maitland, as the location of the fatal wound just below Speke's armpit made suicide unlikely. [68] However, the idea of suicide has appealed to some critics of Speke. [69]
- Tsarong (1959), Tibetan diplomat, court official and reformer, died in a Chinese prison shortly before his public execution with no cause of death ever being revealed, his friend Heinrich Harrer suspects suicide [70]
- Vincent van Gogh (1890), Dutch Post-Impressionist painter, gunshot to the chest. [71] Naifeh and Smith 2011 biography of van Gogh argued that he was a possible victim of accidental manslaughter or foul play by René Secrétan, who led a gang of teenage hooligans who enjoyed getting drunk and bullying the tortured artist. [72]
- Jeffrey "JV" Vandergrift (2023), DJ and radio show host, body found in San Francisco bay following long battle with Lyme disease. Suicide suspected. [73]
- Sid Vicious (1979), English musician and member of the Sex Pistols, heroin overdose. [74] [75] He had made a suicide pact with his then recently deceased girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, as evident by a note found in his coat pocket after his death. [76]
