UPDATED July 29 2:10 p.m. ET
The parents who committed suicide early Friday morning have been identified as Glenn and Patricia Scarpelli, the son and daughter-in-law of former New Jersey Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli, as reported in USA Today.
The couple left behind two children, aged 19 and 20.
Glenn worked as a chiropractor in New York. His father, Joseph Scarpelli, served as the mayor of Brick Township for 12 years. He resigned in December 2006 amidst a corruption scandal; he pleaded guilty to accepting more than $5,000 in bribes and was subsequently sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, according to NJ.com.
You can read the original story below.
Two Manhattan parents committed suicide early Friday morning, leaving behind two children and suicide notes that suggested they killed themselves because they were unable to cope with the costs of their medical bills.
The couple was found on the street after jumping out of the 9th floor window of an office building in the Manhattan neighborhood of Murray Hill at about 5:45 a.m. The 53-year-old man and 50-year-old woman have not been identified, but they both had suicide notes in their pockets.
According to a source who spoke to the New York Post, the woman’s note said “Our kids are upstairs, please take care of them.” The man’s note, pictured below, began with “WE HAD A WONDERFUL LIFE” and went on to say “Patricia and I had everything in life,” but “we both have medical issues, we just can’t afford the health care.” The note also mentioned a “financial spiral” that resulted in an inability to live with their “financial reality.”
The couple was discovered by people who work in the area. “When I got here at 6:05 a.m., I walked by dead bodies on the ground,” a 7-Eleven employee identified as Kazi told The New York Post. “I was scared. I’ve never seen dead bodies before.” Another witness, identified as Harry, said he only saw the bodies after hearing sirens nearby.
The couple’s suicide happened at a time when healthcare has become a major topic of debate and stress for many Americans. Early Friday morning, the Senate failed to pass bills to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
