Oregon Media Insiders

Suicide can be sad in some instances, but I don't feel that this case is necessarily one of them. If someone is truly miserable, then they have the right to die, an important point considering euthanasia (although I realize he killed himself in WA) is legal in Oregon. Provo had too large an ego and such absolute convictions in his own grandeur that he would have never admitted to having mental illness and would have rejected any sort of attempt to treat him as such.

Your assumption of a 'rough push' given by Hallman is frankly rather pretentious in your self righteousness. Who are you to say that Hallman exacerbated Provo's illness at all? We're all in general agreement that Provo's demise was in the cards, regardless of Hallman's actions. I can just as easily imagine that the publicity assisted in prolonging his life, by providing the additional donors to the financial pipeline that he depended on to survive.

And seriously, who's to say what might have been better for him and others if his demise were to come sooner or later? The man was clearly miserable, but was beyond assistance. Having him involuntarily committed would have just made his misery all that much worse.

Yes, Hallman could have done a much better job vetting him, since asking around about him of those that knew him in the past, such as from his time as a teacher at Overlake high school or digging deep enough researching him on the net would have turned up his self publication of a book that, if read, would have provided flashing red lights of his deep involvement in cults and the New Age movement, revealing a clear disposition of being mentally ill. But Provo would have been miserable regardless, whether he received Hallman's publicity or continued to toil in obscurity as his rage built over continually being ignored by the scientific community ... which he would never be able to accept was because his ideas were flawed and not the groundbreaking ideas that would make him adored and the guru that he strived so much to be.

So give it a rest with your holier than thou belief that you knew what was best for Provo. Such an indignant attitude is what is truly beyond the pale.

Without question, he was a ticking time bomb. I wouldn't fault Hallman too much, coming from someone that knew Mark from the past he was a very engaging person whose mental illness would not be apparent initially. What's truly unfortunate of Mark is that he took himself too seriously to ever recognize his own schizophrenia.

It could have turned out much worse, with Mark potentially turning the gun on suspected undercover NSA agents or Islamic terrorists that were out to get him or destroy the world. We should all be thankful that it was only himself that he took out in the end. And at least he's put an end to his own misery.