New Developments In Florida Suicide Band Case

[TexasStooge]

(10/3/03, 7 a.m. ET) -- A Florida circuit court judge has slapped an injunction on the shock-rock band Hell On Earth, banning them from holding an onstage suicide this weekend, according to the Associated Press. St. Petersburg city leaders asked the judge, John C. Lenderman, to issue the order against the band, which has pledged to let an unnamed terminally ill person take his or her own life this Saturday night, October 4, in conjunction with one of their concerts.

According to an interview he did with a local radio station, Hell On Earth frontman Billy Tourtelot says the event will not be open to the public and will take place in two separate locations, with the band playing in one place and the suicide occurring in another. Both will be broadcast live on the band's website.

A letter purportedly written by the still-unidentified person, dated September 15, was posted on the local radio host's website. The writer describes suffering from a terminal illness that has become unbearable, insisting that all medical treatments have been exhausted. The person adds, "I shall sue anyone who tries to revive me before my passing against my wishes...in closing, I hope that everyone understands and respects my decision in this matter and hope one day that others in the same condition have a right to die with dignity."

The city council also passed an ordinance on Monday (September 29), making it illegal for anyone to conduct a suicide for commercial or entertainment purposes, and to host, promote and sell tickets for such an event. Violating the ordinance is punishable with a $500 fine and up to sixty days in jail.

[TexasStooge]

Update: Suicide Webcast Killed

The webcast of a concert by Florida band Hell On Earth that was supposed to occur this past Saturday night (October 4), and feature a live suicide, did not happen, according to the Associated Press. The show and suicide were both scheduled to be broadcast on the band's website from two separate, secret locations, but the site was brought down Saturday night by a flood of data from computers in Hong Kong.

Jason Trindade, the operator of a San Diego-based technology company that hosts the site, said, "There's been a huge amount of traffic which causes the server to lock up. We can't handle that." Trindade said that Hell On Earth frontman Billy Tourtelot told him that the concert was postponed, possibly until next weekend. However, Tourtelot told the Associated Press that the concert did in fact happen, and that he was not aware of the webcast problems until after the show. He also did not know whether the suicide occurred.

Police and emergency dispatchers in St. Petersburg had no calls reporting a suicide on Saturday night, for at least four hours following the time when the event was supposed to take place.

Instead of the live broadcast of the performance and suicide, the band's website offered a link to another site, evilnow.com, and a simple message saying, "Next week the show will go on." Both sites were inaccessible for comment as of Sunday afternoon.

The city of St. Petersburg issued an ordinance last week making it illegal to promote a suicide for entertainment or commercial purposes, in order to stop the event from occurring. A local judge also slapped an injunction on Hell On Earth last Thursday (October 2), to keep them from going through with the performance.

The unidentified person who reportedly planned to commit suicide said that he or she would sue anyone who interfered. The person allegedly suffered from a terminal, debilitating illness and had exhausted all medical treatments.

For more updates go to http://launch.yahoo.com.

[GalvestonDuck]

Hmmmm...let me get this straight -- the concert did, in fact, go on, according to Tourtelot but it wasn't webcast so most of us don't really know what happened. So, will the person who wanted to commit suicide now sue those who interfered in the webcast (the hackers)? Or did they person actually commit suicide, even though no one outside the venue saw it? If not, will he sue himself since it didn't go through with it as planned?

Can you say "publicity stunt?"