[DejaJude]

Philip Merrill, the prominent publisher and former diplomat whose body was found floating in the Chesapeake Bay on Monday, suffered from a heart condition and apparently took his own life, his family said last night.
Merrill, 72, was found with a shotgun wound to the head and a small anchor tied around one or both ankles, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

How could he be sure he would fall into the water after he shot himself? What was the purpose of going into the water in the first place? Was he afraid the shotgun wouldn't finish him off? And why would he use an anchor that apparently was not big enough to keep him from floating? Keep the body in the water long enough so it wouldn't be recognizable? Family seems awfully eager to accept a suicide. Spooky?

[GAD]

Apparently, he was a coward.

IMO, he staged his suicide to look like a boating accident. Think of all the time and money spent on trying to find this louse.

He sits on the side of the boat with an anchor loosely attached to the boat via rope. He shoots himself in the head and falls backward in the water pulling the rope free.

Bodies decompose and release the rope and anchor (see Lacy Peterson).

This is no mystery. It's just a bad attempt at covering up a cowardly suicide.

[blau993]

How could he be sure he would fall into the water after he shot himself?

Sit on the gunwale with the anchor tied to your leg and dangling over the side. Grip the shotgun tightly and angle it so that the blast will push you toward the water. Fire the shotgun and let the force of the blast carry you and the shotgun over the side. Any blood splatter should be out toward the water and not onto the boat.

What was the purpose of going into the water in the first place? Was he afraid the shotgun wouldn't finish him off?

If you wanted to spare your family and your legacy the ignominy of a suicide, why not arrange the suicide in a way that would have you and your weapon simply disappear.

And why would he use an anchor that apparently was not big enough to keep him from floating? Keep the body in the water long enough so it wouldn't be recognizable?

Even smart people underestimate the bouyancy of a bloated body. If he had used his main anchor, it would probably have been heavy enough, but then somebody would notice that the main anchor, which a sailboat carries prominently on the bow, was missing. People only somewhat familiar or unfamiliar with the boat would likely never miss the light anchor commonly referred to as a "lunch hook" that all cruising boats carry.

Family seems awfully eager to accept a suicide. Spooky?

The evidence seems to point to a suicide. Why wouldn't they accept it?