Report: Millionaire's Suicide Linked To Money Trouble & Drug Addiction
HIGHLAND PARK (CBS 11 NEWS) - Financial troubles and a secret drug addiction may have motivated a Highland Park multimillionaire to stab himself last month, according to an autopsy report released Friday.
The report by the Dallas County Medical Examiner confirms John Rodman Steele died from a self-inflicted stab wound through the heart.
Police responded his family's home at 4:18am on July 11th, after his wife, 16 year-old son, and 12 year-old daughter made separate 911 calls.
The report claims Steele was suffering from insomnia and had gone into his daughter's room to lie with her.
"When his wife called him back to bed, (Steele) brought in an 8-10 inch kitchen knife and began attacking her," reads the report.
Hearing his mother's screams, their son ran in and tried to fight off his father.
Arriving officers found Dina Steele, bleeding from her wounds, as she made it out the front door with her two children. John Steele was discovered lying on the kitchen floor with a fatal stab wound to the chest.
While family and friends expressed shock at the violent death, Steele's psychiatrist, Dr. StephenTankersley revealed he had a 2 to 3 year history of major depression and a Vicodin addiction he had hidden from his wife. The doctor reported he had tried multiple times to get Steele to admit himself for treatment for drug addiction or depression, but that he refused.
"(Steele) relapsed at the beginning of this year and was buying pills off the street," reads the report.
The report claims Dina Steele also admitted to a nurse the family was having financial issues and that her husband was involved in a lawsuit over a "Ponzi-like" scheme.
Tankersley claimed Steele was not guilty of wrong doing but had been pulled into bankruptcy proceedings and lost approximately one million dollars, of the 30 million he was worth.
Steele's daughter reportedly said her father had received "some bad news" on the phone the day before his death.
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