A law enforcement investigation has concluded that the death of the first of two Boeing whistleblowers earlier this year was due to suicide, according to police documents released Friday.
John Barnett, 62, was discovered dead with a gunshot wound to the head in his car in the parking lot of his hotel in early March. He had been giving a deposition in Charleston, South Carolina, at the time in his whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing.
Charleston police determined the death was a suicide because the gun was determined to have been fired by Barnett in his locked vehicle, and he was found with a message in a notebook that "amounts to a suicide note," the report noted.
Barnett told friends and family he loved them in a copy of the note in the police report, adding: "I can't do this any longer" and "I pray Boeing pays." Investigators said the notes indicated Barnett was going through some kind of "distress," reported WCSC TV.
The notebook belonging to Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, found at the scene of his death. pic.twitter.com/vKQb1GILfD
— non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) May 18, 2024
"We remain acutely aware of the sensitivity and public interest surrounding this case," a Charleston police spokesperson said in a statement. "It is important to emphasize that our investigation was guided strictly by facts and evidence while remaining undisturbed by conjecture and external pressures."
A second Boeing whistleblower, 45-year-old Joshua Dean, died late last month of a "sudden illness," according to authorites. He had accused a Boeing supplier of overlooking defects in the production of the 737 MAX aircraft.
Barnett's family has not yet responded to the report about his death.
But Barnett's mother, Vicky Stokes, told CBS News last month that she holds Boeing reposnsible for his death.
"If this hadn't gone on so long, I'd still have my son, and my sons would have their brother and we wouldn't be sitting here," she told CBS.
Barnett, who worked at Boeing for 32 years, filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and a lawsuit against Boeing, detailing several concerns about aircraft safety.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available 24 hours a day through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. You are not alone.
