Dad Haunted by Son's Death, Takes His Own Life in Same Spot Where He Found Son's Body
Losing a loved one is never easy, especially if it is your own child. For Martin Leonard, 48, the pain of losing his only son was too much to bear.
Martin found his son, Macauley, hung to death in his East Yorkshire, England, bedroom on March 7, 2018, according to the Metro. The image shocked and haunted his memory and was something he just couldn’t get out of his head.
The heart retching act shook Martin to the core, causing him to take his own life a short month later on April 9, 2018.
Martin took his own life in the same location where his son’s body was found.
Martin’s wife Lisa said in a tearful statement, “Macauley was our world, he was our only boy.”
“Martin told me he found it difficult to get up to go work because he had worked all his life to provide for Macauley – and didn’t see much point in carrying on,” Lisa continued.
“We didn’t talk about Macauley’s death much but went for walks together. He said he couldn’t get the image of Macauley out of his head.”
On the night of Macauley’s death, Martin had gone to his bedroom and knocked on the door at around 9 p.m.
Macauley never answered, and Martin assumed he was fast asleep with his girlfriend by his side.
Little did Martin know that the situation was much worse than he could ever imagine.
About 10 minutes later, Martin knocked on the door again and found the lights in his son’s bedroom were still on.
Here, he entered the bedroom and found his son’s lifeless body.
According to the Metro, Macauley had ended his relationship with his long-term girlfriend in January, just a few short months before he took his own life.
Following the breakup, Macauley had become more reserved, Lisa told the Metro. She even purchased St. John’s Wort – an herbal remedy anti-depressant for him to take. Lisa told the Metro that she thought “it had been working.”
The day of Macauley’s death, he had met with his girlfriend outside his home to exchange a spare key to her car. This was only three hours before Macauley took his own life by hanging himself.
The girlfriend said in a court statement, “We ended on good terms — we hugged hard before he went back in the house.”
“He said he wasn’t having a good day,” she read aloud to the court. “I said was that with work, and he said, ‘no’ to himself.
“But, if I had believed he would have gone on to do what he did, then I wouldn’t have let him be alone and would have stayed with him,” she said.
Macauley, who was a plumbing supervisor, was believed to have planned his own death but did not leave a note as to why.
Jack Taylor, a Humberside police officer, was notified of the incident and reported to the family’s Shinewater Park home at approximately 9:30 p.m. Taylor told the court, “There was no evidence of foul play, or third-party involvement.”
Dr. Ian Richmond, a pathologist expert, confirmed that no drugs or alcohol were detected in Macauley’s body and testified during the court proceedings. He reported that Macauley had taken his own life by hanging.
Martin struggled with the death of his only son and was having a difficult time coming to terms with it.
At 4 a.m. on April 9, Lisa awoke and did not see Martin next to her in bed. She went downstairs and found Macauley’s bedroom door was closed.
Lisa tried to open the door. It was locked, and she called 999 — the emergency number in the U.K.
A paramedic arrived on the scene, busted down the door and tried to revive Martin but he was unsuccessful.
According to Paul Marks, Hull senior coroner professional, Martin and Macauley’s deaths were both ruled a suicide.
“It is clear to me that the tragic death of Macauley had a profound effect on Martin and found this too hard to bring himself to come to terms with. I have no doubt that he (Martin) intended to take his own life.”
We’d like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Martin and Macauley. We are very sorry for your loss.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.
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