The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "suicide" ...
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The Curious Case of Sgt. Drenth
A decorated and highly respected Phoenix police sergeant is found dead on the ground in an alley near the State Capitol complex, the victim of a shotgun blast to the head. The weapon is discovered on his body in a manner which several first-responders later claim looked "staged" by another party or parties. Almost a year after Sgt. Sean Drenth's death, the county Medical Examiner rules that the manner of his death was a "suicide," not a "homicide" or "undetermined." The enclosed two-part series was published after the reporter investigated this complex and ultimately tragic case for several months. A few weeks ago, the county Medical Examiner personally told Sgt. Drenth's widow that he personally will revisit the case in light of the revelations in the story and other relevant reasons.
Tags: Death; police sergeant; shotguns
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Uncounted Casualties
A three-day series that analyzed causes of death for 266 Texas veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The six-month investigation uncovered previously unknown information, pulling data from a variety of federal, state and local sources. The series, which also depended on extensive interviews with family members and fellow service members, revealed the startling number of Texas veterans dying of prescription drug overdoses, suicides and motor vehicle crashes. The newspaper's analysis was hailed by epidemiologists and former Department of Veterans Affairs researchers as an important step in understanding veteran mortality, and led to calls for better government tracking of how veterans are dying.
Tags: Veterans; Iraq; Afghanistan; prescription drug overdoses; suicides; vehicle crashes
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Struggling to Understand
The story takes an investigative look at the personal struggles of the recent suicide victims in a small seaside New Jersey town and examined how the school and community at large responded to what is for New Jersey an unprecedented public health crisis. While each case involved a unique set of circumstances, the reporters found that a history of mentalillness, alcohol and drug abuse -- and a community all to willing to turn a blind eye to teen substance abuse -- played a role in the majority of the deaths.
Tags: suicide; mental illness; drug abuse; youth suicide
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What Happened to Edie?
Edwina King's death was ruled a suicide by the very law enforcement agents she was investigating, regarding allegations that women in the Delaware County Jail were being raped and sexually abused. Edwina went missing the very day she was supposed to meet a Tulsa attorney to discuss a possible civil rights lawsuit on behalf of female inmates. Two weeks later, her body was found hanged in a horse tack barn on her own property, not more than 200 miles from her trailer home.
Tags: Suicide; Edwina King; Tulsa World; Trailer Home; Rape; Sexual Abuse
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Failure to Aid
Over the last year, I spent a lot of time researching and reporting on stories pertaining to the mental health treatment of people in prison. More specifically, I have successfully fought to gain access to public records in order to tell the story of Tony Lester. Tony was a young man who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He committed an assault and was sentenced to serve time at the Arizona State Prison in Tucson. Tragically, Tony committed suicide while in prison. Staff in the prison failed to render aid when they discovered him in his cell bleeding. My investigation not only revealed that he was improperly placed in with the general population against a judge's order and a court-ordered psychiatrist order...but he was also mistakenly given razors as part of a hygiene kit.
Tags: prison; paranoid schizophrenia; suicide; mental health
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Suicide By Cop
Documenting the story of how a veteran from Iraq, suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, terrorizes a store full of customers and then proceeds to lead police from four counties on a high-speed car chase across North Dakota.
Tags: veteran; ptsd; iraq; hostage; mental breakdown
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Inside and Out
Three years after Illinois broke off its youth prisons from the adult system, WBEZ set off to see what changed and found very little. Libraries without proper books, a locked computer lab, abysmal vocational education, and increasing suicide attempts characterized the youth prisons.
Tags: youth prison; juvenile; prison; jail; treatment
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Coppell Mayor Murder-Suicide
After the mayor of a Dallas suburb fatally shoots her daughter and then kills herself, the Dallas Morning News delves deep into the womens' lives and emerges with a different picture.
Tags: Dallas; Coppell; Jayne Peters; Corinne Peters; city; public official
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"Making a Killing"
A 26-year-old bipolar student enrolled in a drug trial at the University of Minnesota. However, Carl Elliott reveals that the professors who were ran the study knew that the student was probably "not competent to give his consent" because he suffered from "severe psychotic delusions." He was given a powerful antipsychotic and eventually stabbed himself to death. Elliott is "a professor of medical ethics at the University of Minnesota," and believes that the professors who were running the drug study would profit from it and that the student who committed suicide was "coerced" into participating.
Tags: bipolar; drug trial; antipsychotic; Seroquel; University of Minnesota; AstraZeneca
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"Inside Foxconn"
Foxconn is one of the world's largest Chinese manufacturing companies, and also the company that makes the iPhone. In 2010 Foxconn was thrust into the spotlight when a dozen workers committed suicide. This Bloomberg Businessweek report takes a close look at the company and Terry Guo, the man who runs it.
Tags: iPhone; Apple; Terry Guo; China; Sony; PlayStation; Dell