Martin Manley’s suicide website appears to be mostly taken offline
Sad news broke this morning when it was reported that former Kansas City Star sports stats editor and writer Martin Manley killed himself at an Olathe police station. Normally, media outlets don’t report on suicides, but they generally do when it happens in public and is news.
But the story of Manley’s suicide got weird when it was revealed that he had built an entire website devoted to explaining his suicide today – his 60th birthday – and other elements of his personal history. Part of that site listed GPS coordinates of a spot in the Overland Park Arboretum and a claim that he buried $200,000 of gold there. Police have since said it was just a hoax.
Now, it appears that Manley’s suicide website has been mostly taken offline. He had written that he prepaid a web-hosting company to keep it up for several years. The main page with a long explanation of his choice to end his life remains active. But the tabs that talk about specific topics with titles including “poker,” “Mom and Dad” and “Other Suicides” all lead to an error page.
What’s left up is a very sad read that touches on his thoughts at the time. And it’s eerie. Manley used words for a living, and that is clear on the site. He writes rationally, which makes its context so much darker. Here’s a representative sample:
I think it is fair to say that I owe you (assuming “you” are someone that I know) an explanation. It’s unfair to rob someone of something they love or even like or even know without an explanation. Having said that, you also owe me. You owe me the time it takes to understand why I did what I did without prejudging. I’ve done my part. The rest is up to you. If you opt to not read it, then I’m tempted to say “You can’t handle the truth!”… but won’t.
We should all probably hug somebody this weekend.
