Top Missouri prosecutor Eric Zahnd kills himself inside courthouse months after saying job brought ‘considerable pain’: report

A top Missouri prosecutor was found dead inside a county courthouse — reportedly killing himself inside the building months after saying the job brought him “considerable pain.”

Eric Zahnd, 53 — the longest-serving prosecutor in Platte County history — was found dead inside Platte County Courthouse at around 2:15 p.m. Thursday, the local sheriff’s office confirmed, according to FOX 4.

Officials have not released details about his death but sources told the local station KCMO that Zahnd took his own life inside the courthouse.

Zahnd, who has served as the county’s lead prosecuting attorney since 2002, played a key role in passing Jessica’s Law, which puts child rapists behind bars for life.

He was also central to numerous key cases in the state, including the shocking drug deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans found frozen to death in a garden after getting together for game night.

Zahnd had announced earlier this year that he was not seeking re-election, withdrawing from the primary minutes before the filing deadline — and making painfully clear the torment the job brought.

“Serving the people as their prosecutor has been my great privilege and solemn responsibility for more than two decades,” Zahnd said in April while announcing his plan to retire.

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I fully understand why the stress, marital relations, drug, and alcohol abuse, and just generally a hard bitten view on life is the result of being in law enforcement.

Sure, there are some nice stories here and there, and I’ve seen them. But a lot of the day-to-day stuff is sad. Losers who can’t get out of their own way getting into trouble, domestic abusers, petty thieves, people who can’t control their own anger, their own violence, or even their own sanity.

I just couldn’t do it. Day after mundane and day after mundane day interspersed with bloody human bodies from violence, accidents, stupidity, and self harm.

You see a good deal of human behavior at its basest level spanning all classes, all sexes, all professions, and all races.

Honestly. I just cannot understand how someone could make a career of that seeing it every day.

I had an interesting experience about two years ago… My car broke down in rush-hour in the middle of one of the busiest intersections in the area. While I was waiting for AAA to arrive, a cop showed up and started directing traffic. He parked his cruiser, lights on right behind my disabled car, which was in the center of three lanes. One lane going in my opposite, the other to my right going in the same direction as myself.

We ended up standing there for quite a while, waiting for a tow truck, and I got to talk to this cop. He was an older guy, a few years younger than myself, but probably one of the older guys on the force I’m guessing. He was very personable and professional.

I really enjoyed it. It was kind of a unique experience, to spend that much time just hanging out with a talking about stuff. After a while, I looked at him and asked him the question and I always ask everybody who I enjoy conversation with (the kind of conversation that just kind of meanders around to a variety of subjects): “Is there something about your job that you really like doing?”

He looked directly at me with his friendly face, and said plainly: “This” as he found his arms out with his palms facing me.

I have to tell you: I just thought that was awesome. I think he told me he had been on the force 25 years, which is a long time to be a cop I think. I understand there are a lotof them that retire as young as they can.

I get that.

But of all the things in life outside of family and personal relationships, seeing a person in a stressful job like that who can absolutely find something in a job that he really really likes about it, even though he might have plenty of reasons to be fairly hard bitten about the job in a pessimistic way.

There was something I found very inspiring about that hour to hour and a half encounter with that small town policeman.

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