Online DEATH During Chat, UK

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

Marriage and children
At the time of his death, he was married to his wife Paula, and had 12-year-old twins, one male and one female, but lived apart from his family after the breakdown of his marriage two years previously.


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".  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 p.m. GMT. 


Aftermath
The death has been reported in the press and is notable due to fear it might inspire other suicides, the possibility of the webcam footage being made available on the internet,  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. The Crown Prosecution Service has stated that none of the chatroom users will face criminal charges.




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