Ex-Wall Street Trader Dies In Court Moments After Arson Conviction, Suicide Pill Suspected
June 29 2012, Published 10:30 a.m. ET
By Debbie Emery - Breaking Celebrity News Reporter
An ex-Wall Street trader collapsed and died in a Phoenix, Arizona court just minutes after being convicted of arson in what investigators think was suicide by a poison pill.
Michael Marin's unexpected death was a shocking conclusion to a bizarre case that has played out like an Alfred Hitchcock script since 2009, when he allegedly burned down his massive mansion to escape crippling mortgage payments, reported the Arizona Republic.
The 53-year-old former high roller apparently couldn't face the prospect of 16 years in prison and instead chose to take his own life in a premeditated move.
Video of the sentencing in the Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday shows him popping a mystery pill into his mouth seconds after the verdict was read, which caused his body to be wracked with fatal convulsions. By the time he was wheeled out on a stretcher by the Phoenix Fire Department, he had already lost consciousness and turned grey.
Marin's high profile demise mirrored his extravagant life, which included graduating from Yale University, scaling Mount Everest, flying small planes and even penning books.
After amassing a huge personal fortune, business problems led him to lose it all, and in the year before the fire his bank account shrank from $900,000 to just $50, which in no way could cover the $17,250 monthly mortgage bills or the balloon payment of $2.3 million.