A Scholar's Memoirs Raise Some Ghosts at Oxford [like Megan case]

New York Times ^ | November 28, 1994 | By JOHN DARNTON

[BlackVeil]

The sentence could have been written by Poe or Dostoyevsky, the way it summons the unspeakable in a coldly confessional tone: "But it was clear to me by now that Trevor and the college must somehow be separated. My problem was one which I feel compelled to define with brutal candor: how to kill him without getting into trouble."

The words ... are from a newly published autobiography of Sir Kenneth Dover, one of the world's most renowned classicists. And they describe a series of events that preceded the suicide of a troublesome colleague at Oxford nine years ago. ...

Others see it as a case in which the president -- fed up with all the problems and aware of the don's despondency and a recent suicide attempt -- pushed him to the brink by writing a letter expressing the college's disapproval of Mr. Aston's conduct at a time when ... he was particularly vulnerable.

...

The author admits to being aware of Mr. Aston's long and troubled psychiatric history. He admits to fantasizing about Mr. Aston's death, consulting a lawyer to see if he would be legally at risk if he ignored a suicide call, and not going to investigate Mr. Aston's room at the college after a colleague expressed concern the night Mr. Aston died. Sir Kenneth also admits to a disturbing sense of relish the day afterward.

"The next day I got up from a long, sound sleep and looked out of the window across the fellows' garden," he wrote. "I cannot say for sure that the sun was shining, but I certainly felt it was. I said to myself, slowly, 'Day One of Year One of the Post-Astonian Era.' For a little while, I even regretted my decision to retire the following year." ...

[BlackVeil]

When reading the distressing details of the "myspace suicide case", I was very much reminded of this earlier scandal concerning Oxford dons. There is a type of person who likes to drive others to suicide, and also feels compelled to boast about it. The memoir written by this scholar is very similar to the blog by Megan's stalker.

At least Trevor Aston was a grown man.

[BlackVeil]

Discussion ping to a similar case. The full story is available at the link.

I had great difficulty in believing that someone would write such a memoir, until this recent case and I read that blog. Very strange people - childish and obsessive, but adults. I think that being involved in a suicide makes them feel powerful.

[Clintonfatigued]

Could be. Lori Drew is one evil woman. Hopefully, she’ll be run out of town. Her neighbors have really turned against her.

[metmom]

But there will still be some, even on this forum, who will lay all the responsibility and guilt of the suicide on the poor person provoked into it; thereby absolving the person responsible of their premeditated and coldly executed deed.

Sick.

[BlackVeil]

I do not blame the neighbours, and I could not bear to have anyone like that near me.

[DJ MacWoW]

There are definately mentally twisted people that believe all their troubles will be over at the death of someone else. I believe that pushing someone to suicide is a form of murder. Not prosecutable under the law but reprehensible all the same. Moral bankruptcy knows no bounds and apparently neither does ego.

[riverdawg]

Trevor Aston was a maniacal drunk who terrorized the students and staff of Corpus Christi College at Oxford for decades. Sir Kenneth Dover, in his official capacity as President of the college, wrote to Aston that his contract had been renewed by the slimmest of margins. We are then led by the NYTimes article to believe that this letter, rather than Aston’s impending divorce and increasingly severe bouts of drink-induced depression, “caused” Aston to commit suicide. So, how much responsibility does Aston bear for his own demise?