A very harsh story, alohabiscuit. Best wishes to you and your friend’s family.
Thank you ballerina stormtrooper. Seriously though, it sux. Bad.
You guys (and gals) have a great community here. I appreciate you.
Very sad to hear this story, alohabiscuit. My condolences to you and your friend’s family.
Kudos to the Forumosa community for coming together and helping alohabiscuit during this time.
Here’s another report on it, with the headline: Unable to earn enough? American teacher hangs himself with dog leash
[quote] 賺不夠？美籍師扯狗繩上吊亡
台南市昨天凌晨發生美籍英語男教師上吊自殺意外，已在台結婚的四十歲美籍男子楊宗麒，利用到公園溜狗時，竟解下狗環索，利用籃球架上吊身亡，其妻發現後雖立即報案，但救護車趕到現場已來不及，檢察官昨率法醫相驗，初步證實無他殺之嫌。
楊姓女子告訴警方，美籍男子楊宗麒，來台教英語已經十多年，兩人是在一家私人幼稚園一同任教認識的，結婚六、七年來，一直沒有生育小孩，幾年前，丈夫曾經抱怨過自己沒賺到什麼錢，有尋死的念頭，經她開導後，已有所改變，而且最近的經濟情況也還可以。[/quote]
It says that when his wife found him hanging from the basketball frame, she got him down and called for help, but though an ambulance rushed to the scene, it was already too late. The coroner’s initial examination showed no evidence of any foul play.
The poor fellow had been living in Taiwan for more than a decade, and had been married for 6 or 7 years, with no children. He’d met his wife when they were both teaching in a kindergarten. His wife said that a few years before, he’d complained about not being able to earn much money, and had contemplated suicide, but after she’d talked him through it (or possibly helped him get counseling: the report’s not quite clear on this), his attitude had changed, and recently his economic situation hadn’t been too bad.
I ought to add that, judging from the content of those reports, there are no grounds for suggesting that there has been anything remiss in the way the authorities have handled this case.
The body was examined by a coroner, who confirmed that death was almost certainly caused by self-hanging. It is hardly imaginable that a grown man could be hanged to death from a basketball frame by anyone else without putting up a mighty struggle, and there would be obvious marks on his body and clothing if this had happened. Still, the authorities are not treating the case as closed, but are properly preserving the body in refrigeration while they await the arrival of a family member from his home country to make their own examination of it. If someone can come and do that, it will be a terribly painful task, but it should conclusively remove any doubts that may otherwise fester in his loved one’s minds.
There can hardly be any grief greater than that which his mother must be suffering now. In order to come to terms with this tragedy as soon as the balm of time allows, she and other family members need to know as fully, clearly and assuredly as possible what happened and why it happened. I hope that what we are able to convey to them in this thread will help at least a little with that.
Once again, Thank you for your help. Although no deaths of this manner are easy to swallow or without questions, you have helped me find some definitive (I still have questions) answers for the mother. This is way more than we had before (nothing). Thank You All…
Here’s another report that adds a few things not mentioned in the other reports:
[quote] 40歲的美國籍外語教師楊宗麒，前天深夜外出遛狗未歸，妻子在住家附近怡平公園找人，看到狗狗沒上鏈條到處跑，原以為先生坐在籃球座下，仔細一看不對勁，先生脖子套了鏈條，綁在框架上且已斷氣，檢警初步研判他上吊身亡。
市警局第四分局通報台南地檢署相驗，初步認為是楊是窒息身亡，是否解剖檢方將待美方家屬來台後決定。
楊妻說，先生死前並無異狀，也未與人有糾紛，沒有保險。據警方訪查，楊平日會喝點小酒，也曾醉倒在路旁被發現過。警方調查，最近楊在美國家庭出了點問題，讓楊很關心，心情受到影響。[/quote]
The bits not mentioned in the other reports are:
When his wife went looking for him in the park, she saw their dog running around without its leash on, and then saw her husband under the basketball frame. She didn’t immediately realize what was wrong, but thought he was just sitting there. She only realized something wasn’t right when she looked more closely, and then discovered what had happened.
The district prosecutor has initially ascertained that death was due to asphyxiation, but is waiting for the kin to come before deciding whether to order an autopsy.
His wife has said that nothing out of the ordinary happened prior to his death, he hadn’t quarreled with anyone, and didn’t have any insurance. The police investigation found that he had a bit of a drinking habit, and had previously been discovered fallen down drunk at the roadside. They also found that he’d recently been very concerned about some problem experienced by his family in America, and this had affected his mood.
Question: If he was married to a Taiwanese woman and hence has family here, why would they wait for a family member from the US to come? Is it because the US-based family has been in contact with the police/etc? (Like, if I were married, wouldn’t my husband be responsible for my body?)
May his soul rest in peace.
Well, they took down the article before I could print it for his mother. Strange.
I guess there will always be questions about spouses deaths in such circumstances, I would say it’s a good thing to investigate from all sides. There have been some cases in Taiwan before that related to insurance claims, although it seems this case has already ruled that out. Sorry for the family’s loss.
He is in a better place now than you or me. There’s no need to feel sad for him.
I feel kinda jealous of him, actually.
Indeed.
Very sorry for all affected by this.
The longer this drags on…the more suspicious it seems to me.
I am sorry for your loss. It’s really sad. Did someone from his family ever make it out here?
such a sad story. It says he was planning to go home in June…was his wife going to go with? Are there no security cameras around? I don’t know him but if the information about the drinking problem and previous suicidal thoughts are correct, I can understand why the police didn’t look into it further. It is strange that he took his dog with, I wouldn’t want my dogs to see that…but also, I think the most while I’m sitting down while my dogs run around…
Poor family.
What a terrible story…sorry for your loss.
I may be missing something, but, doesn’t the wife have the family’s phone number, and shouldn’t they already be in direct contact with his parents? Even being in Taiwan, one would think she would find a way to call immediately. Since she was the one that discovered him, doesn’t she know everything there is to know, excluding foul play? I can’t imagine there’s anything in a news report that she doesn’t already know. It just seems like maybe there’s something amiss if the wife isn’t grieving together and communicating with his family.
[quote=“Teddoman”]What a terrible story…sorry for your loss.
I may be missing something, but, doesn’t the wife have the family’s phone number, and shouldn’t they already be in direct contact with his parents? Even being in Taiwan, one would think she would find a way to call immediately. Since she was the one that discovered him, doesn’t she know everything there is to know, excluding foul play? I can’t imagine there’s anything in a news report that she doesn’t already know. It just seems like maybe there’s something amiss if the wife isn’t grieving together and communicating with his family.[/quote]
That was exactly what I was thinking while reading this thread. Where is the wife in all of this? Why isn’t she informing the family of the details of what has happened??? It seems like the family is totally in the dark, depending on an online forum for help getting information.
@alohabiscuit Condolences. I knew JT back in 2001-2 in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. He was an awesome guy, well-loved in our close-knit group of buddies from all over the world. We lost touch soon after, but i recently returned with a friend from that time. We looked him up before we left in the hope of meeting if he was still in Taiwan. We talked about him lots as we reminisced on the trip, and then found this tragic thread literally minutes after we’d gone our separate ways in the airport. So terribly sad.
We have a few pictures of JT from those happier times. We’d love to pass them on to his mother. if you think it’s appropriate. If you are still following this thread, please send me an email: guy.jimmy at gmail.com
RIP JT
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