As you may have suspected, we will not tell here the story of a Brazilian politician. In fact, this is the case of an American named Robert Budd Dwyer who, in 1987, after facing a court battle over corruption charges, brought together members of the media for a press conference and put a gun before them all. in his own mouth and pulled the trigger while the whole scene was televised.

Dwyer had a master's degree in education and entered politics after practicing for a few years. He joined the Republican Party in 1960, served as a member of the House of Representatives - which, together with the Senate, makes up the US Congress - between 1965 and 1970, and was later elected Senator in the State of Pennsylvania. .

Anonymous Charge

In the early 1980s, when his term as senator ended, Dwyer went to work for the national treasury - and that's when his troubles began. The Republican was targeted by authorities after the Pennsylvania governor received an anonymous letter accusing Dwyer of allegedly using his position to win bribes in a bidding case related to private accounting firms.

Dwyer at an event with President Ronald Reagan

The state of Pennsylvania had discounted millions of dollars more than it should from the federal pension system and needed to hire a company that could calculate the amount of refunds to be paid to state workers. For the anonymous document claimed that Dwyer had charged a little money to benefit a company called Computer Technology Associates.

The politician denied all allegations, but in 1986 an investigation was launched to investigate the allegations. Dwyer was accused of receiving $ 300, 000 (or about $ 1 million) to convince the bidding committee to award the contract to Computer Technology Associates. John Torquato Jr., owner of the company involved in the scandal, as well as his lawyer, William Smith, and his wife, were also indicted.

The situation is complicated

During the process, Torquato and the Smith couple received a petition to testify against Dwyer - which made the work of defending the politician very difficult. The Republican even received an offer from the US district attorney to sign a document blaming him, resigning his office and promising to cooperate with the investigations in exchange for a maximum sentence of five years in prison. .

Dwyer is indicted

On the other hand, if convicted, Dwyer could be sentenced to pay a $ 300, 000 fine and spend up to 55 years behind bars. But the Republican turned down the offer and continued to defend his innocence - and was put on trial. Torquato and the Smiths, who had already made arrangements to reduce their penalties, testified against Dwyer, and he was found guilty of charges of conspiracy, fraud and perjury in late 1986.

Authorities allowed the politician to remain in office until the final sentence was handed down, and during that time he continued to vehemently defend his innocence. Dwyer even requested that the US President - at the time, Ronald Reagan - issue an official note of apology, but the request was promptly denied.

Tragic outcome

In January 1987, Dwyer called a press conference - and everyone thought he would announce his resignation. Little did they know that they would witness a desperate act. With all gathered, the politician read a 21-page pronouncement in front of the TV cameras where he said he was innocent and said he would not resign.

Dwyer during his speech

Dwyer then took three envelopes - which were later found to contain an organ donation card, a letter to the State Governor, and a suicide note to his wife, respectively - and handed them to three of his aides. He then opened a fourth envelope and pulled out a .357-caliber Magnum, telling the astonished attendees that they could leave the room if what they were about to see offended them.

Some people even tried to approach the politician, but he warned everyone that someone could end up injured. So Dwyer put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger - and the suicide was even broadcast in full by several local TV stations (you can watch the scenes through this link if you want). Years later, new details came to light, and there are indications that the Republican apparently told the truth when he claimed he was innocent.

The politician moments before committing suicide

At the time of the investigations, it was discovered that Torquato had used his contacts in Pennsylvania and made a series of bribes to get the contract. In addition, in 2010, Torquato's lawyer, William Smith, admitted that he had lied about the politician's involvement in reducing his own sentence and took the blame for Dwyer's death in a documentary produced about the Republican's life.

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