R. Budd Dwyer

R. Budd Dwyer in his last moments.

Robert Budd Dwyer (November 21, 1939–January 22, 1987), or better known as R. Budd Dwyer, was an American politician born in St. Charles, Missouri. Dwyer is best known for his televised suicide.

Career

A Republican, Dwyer served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1965 to 1970, the state Senate from 1970 to 1980, and as state treasurer from 1980 until his death. He graduated from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. He went on to get his Master's Degree in Education and taught social studies and coached football at Cambridge Springs High School.

Controversy and Conviction

During the early 1980s, employees of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania overpaid millions of dollars in FICA taxes. As a result, the Commonwealth began requesting bids for the task of calculating refunds to each employee.

One firm, California-based Computer Technology Associates, was owned by a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native named John Torquato Jr.. Torquato used his Harrisburg-area connections and a series of bribes to obtain the contract, worth $4.6 million. An anonymous memo then reached the governor's office, describing the bribes that had taken place.

In late 1986, Dwyer was charged as having agreed to accept a related kickback of $300,000. Dwyer never actually received any money and some suspect that this was an elaborate scam by Torquato's attorney, William Smith, to skim a supposed bribe.

A plea bargain made for Torquato and Smith 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 Republican staffers who ran the Dauphin County Republican Party. During this time, the local United States Attorney offered Dwyer a plea bargain that carried a five year maximum sentence in exchange for a one-count guilty plea, resignation, and cooperation in the investigation^[1]. Dwyer refused the offer, and was later convicted but continued to vehemently protest his innocence. Under state law, Dwyer would continue to serve as state treasurer until his sentence was determined — possibly up to 55 years in prison.

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 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. One contained a suicide note to his wife, a second was an organ donor card and other related materials, and a third was a letter to Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey, who had been inaugurated just two days before.

After handing out the envelopes, Dwyer opened a fourth large manila envelope and withdrew a .357 Magnum revolver, advising those in the crowd to "Please leave the room if this will offend you." Those in attendance cried out to Dwyer, pleading with him to put the gun down. Some tried to approach him. "Stay away... this will hurt someone," he warned. Those were his final words. Amid the cry of "Budd, Budd, Budd", Dwyer put the gun barrel into his mouth, pulled the trigger, and collapsed on the floor bleeding, in front of five live television news cameras.

Aftermath

A number of television stations throughout Pennsylvania carried the press conference live via feed from one of the five news cameras present, airing Dwyer's suicide before a mid-day audience without the chance of editing. 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. In the end, many stations, including WCAU-TV, aired the footage up to a point just prior to the shooting. Others, including Pennsylvania's Group W stations KYW-TV and KDKA-TV, aired no footage at all; this despite the fact that Group W had a camera set up at the news conference.

Only a handful aired the entire press conference unedited. WPVI-TV in Philadelphia was one station that chose to re-broadcast the suicide footage in full on their 5 PM and 6 PM Action News broadcasts without warning to viewers. That station's broadcast is a source for copies circulating on the Internet. WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh is reported by the Associated Press to have broadcasted the footage uncensored on an early newscast. 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." Dwyer's case has become a favorite of journalism professors to demonstrate that news editors, especially in the medium of television, must be prepared to make instant decisions, weighing both psychological impact on viewers and the need to compete with other media outlets.

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 back then.) 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 photos were still transmitted in black and white until the transmission technology improved to a point when color photos didn't cause delays.)

Since Dwyer died in office before being removed upon sentencing, his widow Joanne was able to collect full survivor benefits totalling 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^[2].

Dwyer's legal struggles may have ended with his death but sadly for his family, a morbid 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 Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. A popular joke arose shortly after Dwyer's death about how Bud Lite was different than Budd Dwyer because the former had a head on it.

Though it was pretty tasteless.

Like the beer.

Pop culture

In 1988, Steve Albini's band Rapeman released an EP called "Budd", addressing Dwyer's suicide directly.
In 1990, the electronic band, Skinny Puppy, used footage of Dwyer's suicide for the backing film during the Too Dark Park tour for their closing song, Reclamation.
In 1995, the rock band Filter had a hit with the song "Hey Man, Nice Shot", which, although not explicitly mentioning Dwyer, was "inspired" by Dwyer's suicide, according to band members.
The West Chester, Pennsylvania rock band Camp Kill Yourself, or cKy for short, used a drawing of Budd Dwyer's suicide for the cover art of their first full-length album.
During the late 1980's, college students at various Pennsylvania universities would pass among themselves coins with holes drilled out of the center, referred to as a "Budd Dwyer Commemorative."
Canadian tech metal band, Ion Dissonance, released a demo titled ".357," a Budd Dwyer reference. They also have a song titled, "The Budd Dwyer Effect." Excerpt from the song's lyrics: "it takes guts and a gun, just like in Budd Dwyer's little surprise."
Californian experimental Metal band Neurosis used an image of Dwyer's suicide for the cover of their 1988 debut album "Pain of Mind".
In 2005, comedian Norm MacDonald opened the premiere of his show on Comedy Central, "Back to Norm," with a sketch featuring himself committing suicide during a press conference, mimicking Dwyer's comments.
Rock band, Faith No More, recorded a song entitled, 'The World Is Yours,' which can be found on their greatest hits compilation, 'Who Cares A Lot,' released in 1998. In it, lead singer Mike Patton continues to sing the phrase, 'This will hurt someone,' which of course were Budd Dwyer's last words. Also, in the bridge, the audio of Budd Dwyer's suicide is sampled into the song.
In 1997 Dutch punk band Dandruff!! recorded a song entitled, 'The Budd Dwyer Show,' which can be found on their album 'SixEQUJFive'. The song is not specifically about Dwyer, but includes darkly comical descriptions of people and objects about to meet their demise.

Notes

^ David Morris, "Dwyer Sought Presidential Pardon, Rejected Plea Bargaining", Associated Press, January 24, 1987.
^ "Pennsylvania Official's Suicide May Be Linked to Finances", Washington Post, January 24, 1987.

External links