(Redirected from R. Budd Dwyer)
'Robert "Budd" Dwyer' (
November 21,
1939 –
January 22,
1987) was a former
Pennsylvania politician who, on the morning of
January 22,
1987, committed
suicide by shooting himself in the mouth with a revolver during a televised
press conference.
Career
Budd Dwyer graduated from
Allegheny College in
Meadville, Pennsylvania. He went on to get his
master's degree in education and taught social studies and coached
football at
Cambridge Springs High School. As a Republican, Dwyer served as a member of the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1965 to 1970 and the
Pennsylvania Senate from 1970 to 1980. After his tenure as a senator, Dwyer moved on to the treasurer's office, a position he held up to his death.
Controversy and conviction
During the early 1980s, state employees overpaid millions of dollars in
Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes. As a result, the
commonwealth began accepting bids from companies to calculate the amount of the refund each employee was due.
One firm, the
California-based Computer Technology Associates, was owned by a
Harrisburg native named John Torquato, Jr., who used his area connections and a series of
bribes to obtain the contract, worth a reputed
US$4.6 million. An anonymous memo reached the office of
Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh informing him of what had happened.
In late 1986, Budd Dwyer was charged with receiving a
kickback of $300,000. A
plea bargain was made for Torquato and
Dauphin County Republican Party Chairman William Smith (who was also Torquato's attorney), as well as Smith's wife, which required them to testify against Dwyer. This, coupled with the government's refusal to name unindicted co-conspirators in the case, made it difficult for Dwyer to defend himself, though the unindicted co-conspirators are believed to have been staff members of the Dauphin County Republican Party. During this time, the district's
United States Attorney offered Dwyer a plea bargain that carried a maximum of five years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea on one count of accepting a bribe, resignation, and cooperation in the investigation.
[1] Dwyer refused the offer, and was later convicted but continued to vehemently profess his innocence, as did others who were close to him.
[2] Under state law, Dwyer could continue to serve as state treasurer until his sentencing. The maximum sentence Dwyer was facing was 55 years
imprisonment and a $300,000 fine. However, his co-defendant former state Republican Party chairman, Robert Asher was given a year in jail and later returned to politics, getting elected in 1999.
[3]
Public suicide
On
January 22,
1987, the day before his sentencing, Dwyer called a
press conference to "provide an update on the situation." Many expected Dwyer to announce his resignation from office.
At the conference, an agitated and nervous Dwyer once again professed his innocence, and declared that he would not resign as state treasurer. Those attending would hear his final words:
:I thank the good Lord for giving me 47 years of exciting challenges, stimulating experiences, many happy occasions, and, most of all, the finest wife and children any man could ever desire.
:Now my life has changed, for no apparent reason. People who call and write are exasperated and feel helpless. They know I'm innocent and want to help. But in this nation, the world's greatest democracy, there is nothing they can do to prevent me from being punished for a crime they know I did not commit. Some who have called have said that I am a modern day
Job.
:Judge [Malcolm] Muir is also noted for his medieval sentences. I face a maximum sentence of 55 years in prison and a $300,000 fine for being innocent. Judge Muir has already told the press that he, quote, "felt invigorated" when we were found guilty, and that he plans to imprison me as a deterrent to other public officials. But it wouldn't be a deterrent because every public official who knows me knows that I am innocent; it wouldn't be a legitimate punishment because I've done nothing wrong. Since I'm a victim of political persecution, my prison would simply be an American
gulag.
:I ask those that believe in me to continue to extend friendship and prayer to my family, to work untiringly for the creation of a true justice system here in the United States, and to press on with the efforts to vindicate me, so that my family and their future families are not tainted by this injustice that has been perpetrated on me.
:We were confident that right and truth would prevail, and I would be acquitted and we would devote the rest of our lives working to create a justice system here in the United States. The guilty verdict has strengthened that resolve. But as we've discussed our plans to expose the warts of our legal system, people have said, "why bother," "no one cares," "you'll look foolish," ''
60 Minutes'', ''
20/20'', the
American Civil Liberties Union,
Jack Anderson and others have been publicizing cases like yours for years, and it doesn't bother anyone...
At this point Dwyer stopped with his prepared text and called to three of his staffers, giving each an envelope. It was later discovered that one contained a
suicide note to his wife. The second was an
organ donor card and other related materials. The third was a letter to the newly-inaugurated governor
Robert P. Casey.
After handing out the envelopes, Dwyer opened a brown envelope and withdrew a
.357 Magnum revolver, advising those in the crowd, "Please leave the room if this will affect you." Those in attendance cried out to Dwyer, pleading with him to put the gun down ("Budd—don't!" was heard on television). Some tried to approach him. "Stay away, this thing will hurt someone," he warned.
[4] Those were his
last words. Amid the cry of "Budd, Budd, Budd!" Dwyer put the gun barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. He collapsed on the floor, in front of five television news cameras. Dwyer was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:31 AM
CDT.
Aftermath
A number of television stations throughout
Pennsylvania aired taped footage of Dwyer's suicide before a mid-day audience. Due to a major snowstorm throughout Pennsylvania that day, many schools were closed and many school-aged children were witness to the suicide. Over the next several hours, however, news editors had to decide whether to air the graphic images or to edit the footage for evening news telecasts. Dwyer's case has become a favorite of a number of
journalism professors to demonstrate that news editors (especially in the medium of television) must be prepared to make instant decisions, weighing the psychological impact on viewers against their business sense of beating other media outlets to the story.
[5]
In the end, many stations, including
WCAU, aired the footage up to a point just prior to the shooting. Others, including Pennsylvania's
Group W stations
KYW and
KDKA, froze the action just prior to the trigger's being pulled. KDKA-TV and KYW-TV both chose this approach, and allowed the audio of the shooting to continue under the frozen image. Group W's news cameraman William L. "Bill" Martin and reporter David Sollenberger—based out of the Harrisburg state capitol's Correspondents Room—had a camera set up at the news conference and chose not to air the actual footage, choosing instead to air the audio with a freeze frame of the gun in Dwyer's mouth. Only a handful aired the entire press conference unedited.
WPVI in
Philadelphia was one station that chose to re-broadcast the suicide footage in full on their 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Action News broadcasts without warning to viewers. That station's broadcast is a source for copies circulating on the Internet.
WPXI in
Pittsburgh is reported by the
Associated Press to have broadcast the footage uncensored on an early newscast and did in fact broadcast the footage. In explaining the decision to air, WPXI news operations manager By Williams said, "It's an important event" about an "important man." Williams opted not to air the footage in the evening newscasts, explaining, "Everyone knows by then that he did it. There are children out of school."
The broadcast of the shooting became a topic for educators in Pennsylvania classrooms and led to questioning the wisdom of airing live news broadcasts in public school settings. This issue was also faced during the explosion of the
Space Shuttle ''Challenger'', which was shown live in many classrooms since
Christa McAuliffe was to be the first teacher in outer space.
The suicide also changed
Associated Press photo practices. At the time, the AP had its photographers shoot most photos in black and white, since the film was cheaper and the photos took less time to transmit. Also, most newspapers still had black-and-white front pages at the time. Color film would be issued only to photographers expected to be getting the top photos for national news that day. Since this news conference was expected to be of little interest outside Pennsylvania, black-and-white film was used. Once it turned into a major worldwide story, the AP got requests for color photos. After that, the AP promptly switched to taking all photos in color. Most of the photos were still transmitted in black and white until the transmission technology improved to a point when color photos did not cause delays.
Since Dwyer died in office before being removed upon sentencing, his widow, Joanne, was able to collect full survivor benefits totaling over $1.28 million. A spokesman for Dwyer, immediately after the suicide, suggested Dwyer may have killed himself to retain the state-provided pension for his household, which had been ruined by legal defense costs.
[6]
Dwyer's legal struggles may have ended with his death, yet a fascination with his suicide goes on to this day. Copies of the footage continue to circulate via the
Internet and have appeared in various films, including the ''
Traces of Death'' series and
Michael Moore's ''
Bowling for Columbine''.
In 2003, work started on "Honest Man", a feature length documentary about Budd and the CTA scandal. Slated for a 2007 release the film includes interviews with William Smith, the Dwyer family (Robert Dwyer, Joanne Dwyer and Dyan Dwyer) as well as former colleagues and friends. Also authors Lorraine Yuhasz and William Keisling have contributed their expert knowledge of the CTA scandal to the project.
Dwyer is buried in Blooming Valley Cemetery in
Blooming Valley, PA.
References
1. "Dwyer Sought Presidential Pardon, Rejected Plea Bargaining", ''Associated Press'', January 24 1987.
2. Famous Pictures Magazine - Budd Dwyer Lucas, Dean
3. I knew Budd Dwyer, I was at the trial Barry O'Connell
4. "PA. Treasurer Kills Self at News Conference", ''Associated Press'', January 23, 1987.
5. Soteropolous, Jacqueline. Feeling the Heat. ''American Journalism Review'', December, 2000. Accessed online 11 February 2006.
6. "Pennsylvania Official's Suicide May Be Linked to Finances", ''Washington Post'', January 24, 1987.
References in popular culture
★ The Steve Albini-led band
Rapeman released the song "Budd", referencing Dwyer, on an EP of the same name. In a book referring to Albini when he produced the
Pixies' ''
Surfer Rosa'', John Murphy claimed Albini would brag about owning the footage.
★
Ministry's 1992 single "
Just One Fix" features a sound clip of the suicide.
★ In 1994, the industrial band Dead World recorded a song entitled "This Will Hurt Someone", which uses sound clips from Dwyer just prior to his suicide.
★ Audio of the suicide is heard in U.S. alternative rock band
Faith No More's song "The World Is Yours" and
Marilyn Manson's song "
Get Your Gunn".
★ The song "
Hey Man, Nice Shot" by the industrial rock group
Filter was composed as a reaction to Budd Dwyer's suicide.
★
Tech metal band
Ion Dissonance released a song entitled "The Bud Dwyer Effect" on their album ''Breathing Is Irrelevant''.
★ Independent feature film ''
Loren Cass'' features the Dwyer suicide in its entirety.
★ Industrial band
Skinny Puppy used footage of Dwyer's suicide in graphic detail in the
Too Dark Park backing video for the track ''Reclamation'' .
★ The film
Bowling for Columbine featured footage of Dwyer's suicide in a
montage set to the
Beatles song "
Happiness Is a Warm Gun". Only the gun going off is shown.
★ The song by
hip-hop artist
Necro on his album
The Pre-Fix for Death called "You Did It" has an audio clip of his final moments. The title of the song is also based off of the first words uttered after he shot himself, "Oh my God, he did it!", and the chorus/hook describes the manner of Dwyer's death.
★ The original artwork for the band
CKY's "Volume 1" album was a drawing of Dwyer's suicide.
★
Bill Bryson briefly discusses the suicide in his book "
The Lost Continent - travels in small town America" (page 154-155)
★ The song "Bleeding To Death" by hardcore band
The Swarm includes an audio clip from the suicide
★ The band
Neurosis have featured the footage of the suicide as a backdrop to their live performances
See also
★
Christine Chubbuck, a news anchor who committed suicide live on-air in 1974
★
List of unusual deaths
External links
★
Trailer for Honest Man - A Documentary about Budd Dwyer
★
Budd Dwyer's Suicide Video '(WARNING: Extremely Graphic Footage)'
★
"Sins of Our Fathers," by William Keisling and Richard Kearns
★
Modern Television – R. Budd Dwyer
★
A more detailed account
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