1967 R. Budd Dwyer Signed Letter Live TV Suicide PA House Of Representatives
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:3529545 | Country/Region of Manufacture: United States |
| Year: 1967 | Type: Letter |
| Candidate: R. Budd Dwyer |
ITEM: Up for sale is this piece of political history - a signed letter from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, dated June 22, 1967, by R. Budd Dwyer and signed Budd Dwyer. All original, not a copy, signed in ink and you can feel the typewriter impact points.Budd Dwyer was the Pennsylvania State Treasurer that committed suicide on Live Television, by shooting himself in the mouth. Sad, but now a part of pop culture and political history. Now you can add a piece of thi...s history to your political ephemera collection.The Story of R. Budd Dwyer :Robert Budd Dwyer (November 21, 1939 – January 22, 1987) was the 30th State Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He served from 1971 to 1981 as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate representing the state's 50th district. He then served as the 30th Treasurer of Pennsylvania from January 20, 1981, until his death by suicide during a press conference.In the early 1980s, Pennsylvania discovered its state workers had overpaid federal taxes due to errors in state withholding. Many accounting firms competed for a multimillion-dollar contract to determine compensation to each employee. In 1986, Dwyer was convicted of receiving a bribe from the California firm that ultimately won the contract. He was scheduled to be sentenced on those charges on January 23, 1987.On January 22, 1987, Dwyer called a news conference in the Pennsylvania state capital of Harrisburg where he killed himself in front of the gathered reporters, by shooting himself in the mouth with a .357 Magnum revolver.[4]Dwyer's suicide was broadcast later that day to a wide television audience across Pennsylvania.Throughout Dwyer's trial and after his conviction, he maintained that he was not guilty of the charges levied against him, and that he had been framed. Decades later, the prosecution's primary witness, William Trickett Smith, whose testimony was largely used to obtain Dwyer's conviction, stated in the documentary Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer, as he did at Dwyer's trial, that he offered Dwyer a bribe and that Dwyer accepted the bribe. He expressed regret for the decision to offer Dwyer a bribe and for the role it played in Dwyer's death. James J. West, the former acting United States Attorney who prosecuted Dwyer, affirmed Dwyer's guilt in 2010.SHIPPING: All buyers agree to pay calculated shipping charges. We will gladly combine shipments to help save you postage. We ask that PAYPAL payments are also paid in ONE transfer. Payment is expected in 21-days. Thank you! NOTE: Some images are enlarged to show clarity and details.
