Coroner: Boeing Whistleblower’s Death Was a Suicide

A South Carolina coroner has found that John Barnett, the former Boeing quality-control engineer who blew the whistle on alleged safety concerns within the aircraft giant, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Barnett, who was in Charleston for a deposition in his whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing, was found in the driver’s seat of his locked orange Dodge Ram truck at a Holiday Inn parking lot on March 9. Next to him was a notebook that contained “writing resembling a suicide note,” a Charleston County Coroner’s report said.

“The writings found in the vehicle were examined by the Charleston Police Department and found only Mr. Barnett's fingerprints on the notebook,” the report said. “The writings contained information known only to his family.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.