TRINITY – Although the case is still under investigation, suicide is believed to have lead to the hanging death of a 53-year-old Albuquerque, N.M. man on Saturday.
According to Trinity County Deputy Sheriff John Raiford, the body of the man was found hanging by a rope from a tree on a private residence off Barrett’s Landing Road near Sebastopol.
The owner of the residence discovered the body between 7:30 and 8 a.m. Sunday as she was walking to her garage on her way to church.
The deputy said the path to the garage was on an incline and the woman was looking down, watching her steps.
“She came to a number of tree limbs on the path and when she looked up, she saw him,” the deputy said.
The victim was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene by Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace Randy Barrett.
“When I first arrived at the scene, I thought it was a murder but the more we investigated, it looked more and more like a suicide,” Raiford said.
The deputy said the man had family living in the New Waverly area and had gone to the Conroe Home Depot store to purchase the rope and tie wraps used.
“I don’t know if he purchased the ladder there or not but, like the rope, it was brand new,” he said.
The man apparently used the step ladder to reach a limb on the tree, tied the rope to it and fastened a noose around his neck before stepping off the ladder.
The investigation has shown that the man had a history of heart trouble and was believed to be suffering from a terminal illness.
“The day before he went to a local funeral home and pre-paid for his own funeral,” Raiford said.
“All that together strongly indicates that he took his own life. The big mystery is why he selected the particular tree. It’s not right on the road.”
Raiford added that because no flashlight was found at the scene, it is believed that the man hanged himself sometime Saturday evening.