Suicide? Hands of victim tied behind him

That is one strange “suicide” case down in Carteret County.

The body of Danny Noe was found in his home office one morning last April. He had a plastic bag tied over his head. His wrists were fastened behind him with plastic ties. And there was a long “suicide note.”

The note apparently was the basis for the suicide ruling. And authorities maintain there was no evidence of any struggle or of any other “involvement,” according to one news account.

Family and friends aren’t satisfied. They say the veteran state Ferry Division employee was “not the type” to kill himself and had shown no indication of depression or frustration. In addition, he had been making plans for taking his wife on a vacation trip to Italy.

And why does a man committing suicide tie his hands behind him — and how?

One explanation of “how” is that Mr. Noe could have tied his hands in front of himself, then stepped over his bound wrists, putting his arms behind his back.

But that sure doesn’t speak to the question of “why.”

In addition, investigators found cigarette ashes on the floor beneath Noe’s leg — and he not only didn’t smoke but would not allow smoking in his office.

Family members say the suicide note was not in Noe’s usually small handwriting. But authorities said it was too detailed and too long to have been written by someone being coerced and was signed “Dan,” a nickname he had not been using.

Did Danny Noe have any enemies? Certainly he must have had critics because of his role as a whistle-blower on some work-related projects. But there had never been any indication at all that he had felt threatened.

But family and friends raise some understandable questions about what happened to Danny Noe of Beaufort.

Published in Editorials on October 18, 2005 9:40 AM