Band Postpones "Suicide Show" Until Next Weekend
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 6, 2003
St. Petersburg, FL (LifeNews.com) — A Florida shock rock band’s proposed Saturday night concert was supposed to feature a member of a pro-euthanasia group who, as a fan of the band, asked it to allow him to kill himself during an upcoming show.
Neither Hell on Earth’s concert nor the suicide took place, and a statement posted on the band’s web site — which has been on and offline during the last several days — said it would hold the concert next weekend.
The Internet provider that hosts the band’s web site said it was finally taken down last night.
Mayor Rick Baker said police and city officials would continue to monitor the situation.
"We still consider the idea of using a suicide as a way of promoting a concert to be a sick concept," Baker said. "If someone chooses to break the law in our city, we’ll look to aggressively prosecute them."
Meanwhile, the man who wants to die spoke with the host of a local radio program.
The man, whose voice was digitally scrambled, said he has less than six months to live. While he wouldn’t provide many specifics, he said he was on a respirator.
He said he asked the band to allow him to commit suicide because it was a way to get publicity about the assisted suicide crusade.
"Assisted suicide must be made legal soon for others like me," said the man.
On Thursday a local judge issued an injunction blocking the band from performing the suicide show.
Billy Tourtelot, 33, could not be located for city officials to serve him with the court order and he did not appear in court Thursday. He could be held in contempt of court for not attending.
