Christine Chubbuck

So maybe not a 'CRIIIIIME crime', per se, but the on-air suicide of news anchor Christine Chubbuck has fascinated me for a long time, and this year--after being largely ignored by the mainstream--there are not one but two movies that came out on the topic!


One is more of a standard docu-style dramedy with Rebecca Hall and Dexter...


...the other, a more artsy take on an actress that is studying her character to portray her...and, as a result, may also learn something about herself in the process. OOH.

Not a whole lot was available on the case before, but the movies have certainly stirred up some attention--and understandably so. It's a dark, fascinating story, rife with WOE and REGRET. From Wikipedia:

"After the shooting, news director Mike Simmons found the papers from which Chubbuck had been reading her newscast contained a complete script of her program, including not only the shooting, but also a third-person account to be read by whichever staff member took over the broadcast after the incident. He said her script called for her condition to be listed as 'critical'.[16] 'She had written something like 'TV 40 news personality Christine Chubbuck shot herself in a live broadcast this morning on a Channel 40 talk program. She was rushed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where she remains in critical condition.'"

Yowza.

I have been trying to find the live suicide video forever does anyone HAVE ITTT

shades wrote:

I have been trying to find the live suicide video forever does anyone HAVE ITTT

Some rumors out there same as the BT but I don't think it was ever released

shades wrote:

I have been trying to find the live suicide video forever does anyone HAVE ITTT

Me too. I read something recently that said some family member had a copy of the broadcast, but they don't intend on releasing it. Besides those "lucky" enough to see the live broadcast, I don't think anyone will ever see it.

Mollie Nelson, the widow of Chubbuck’s news station, confirmed to Vulture this week that she has the video - it having been passed onto her by her late husband Robert Nelson who apparently had kept it all these years though did not say why.

In one of the Chubbuck films, Kate Plays Christine, a former employee of the WXLT news station suggests that Mollie Nelson might have the tape, which led to her receiving an influx of calls about it. This made her uncomfortable, so she reportedly has passed it onto a “very large law firm” for safe keeping.

So, apparently the copy is with some law firm.

sororityalpha wrote:

Mollie Nelson, the widow of Chubbuck’s news station, confirmed to Vulture this week that she has the video - it having been passed onto her by her late husband Robert Nelson who apparently had kept it all these years though did not say why.

In one of the Chubbuck films, Kate Plays Christine, a former employee of the WXLT news station suggests that Mollie Nelson might have the tape, which led to her receiving an influx of calls about it. This made her uncomfortable, so she reportedly has passed it onto a “very large law firm” for safe keeping.

So, apparently the copy is with some law firm.

Yes, now I remember! The widow of the news station guy. Kinda comforting it's still out there, somewhere, but sucks that it's at a law firm.

Yes, I remember reading about her. She was a very rational woman and this side of her personality, of course, played a huge part in how she chose to die.

From a profile written in 1974:

"Several weeks before she died, she told Mike Simmons, 26, the news director, that she wanted to do a film piece on suicide. He gave her the go-ahead. She called the local police department and discussed methods of suicide with one of the officers. She was told that to kill oneself with a gun, the “best” method was to use a .38 caliber pistol. And to be absolutely sure of success, a wadcutter, a slug that disintegrates into tiny pieces in the body, should be used.

She was also told that the gun should be pointed not at the temple, which wouldn’t necessarily kill, but at the lower back of the head. It is there that the heart and lungs, the life functions, are sustained.

When Chris Chubbuck killed herself, she followed those instructions. There seemed to be no doubt that she had every intention of killing herself. There were some who were confused by the word “attempted” suicide in her script. But those who worked with her had a ready explanation. Chris was too good a newswoman to write suicide when it might have failed. She was too precise"

Thank you guys for mentioning this case, have never heard of it before.
So interesting and shocking. Fascinating, to say it so.

Very strange that no-one took these signals seriously. I wonder if anybody asked her "how did you get this idea?"
Very strange that the police guys did not assume that Ms. Chubbuck was actually out for collecting ideas and tips.
Very strange that nobody suspected anything on that day. She behaved really strange.

Thanks again!

Moonshadow wrote:

Very strange that nobody suspected anything on that day. She behaved really strange.

She was in high spirits that morning. Also, cool and collected even though they had some technical difficulties in the live TV broadcast where she killed herself.
Christine was open about her depression, maybe they thought that those short bursts of apparent joy meant she was slowly "recovering" (though from my research I learnt that Chris had a bit more depth than the people that were surrounding her, hence a proper recover would have not been possible from this point of view)

Amarantha wrote:

Moonshadow wrote:

Very strange that nobody suspected anything on that day. She behaved really strange.

She was in high spirits that morning. Also, cool and collected even though they had some technical difficulties in the live TV broadcast where she killed herself.
Christine was open about her depression, maybe they thought that those short bursts of apparent joy meant she was slowly "recovering" (though from my research I learnt that Chris had a bit more depth than the people that were surrounding her, hence a proper recover would have not been possible from this point of view)

And it is also said that someone who has decided on suicide will become happy and joyful when it gets closer to the time of the suicide. Because they feel their pain will soon be over and they are happy about it. I think she was happy and it was genuine because she thought she would finally be free of her sadness.

Lizpuff wrote:

And it is also said that someone who has decided on suicide will become happy and joyful when it gets closer to the time of the suicide. Because they feel their pain will soon be over and they are happy about it. I think she was happy and it was genuine because she thought she would finally be free of her sadness.

This right here.

I've just finished watching "Christine" and believe me, it's quite an experience. Rebecca Hall gave an astounding portrayal of her, absolutely mesmerizing.
It's not easy to give an accurate re-enactment of the events that brought Christine to suicide, but she nailed that performance without sounding inadequate or disrespectful towards her problems.

Her suicide video:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

sororityalpha wrote:

Her suicide video:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

So what do you think? Real or fake?

I am really unsure. Cannot decide if it is fake. Watched it twice to be able to decide, but... I am no expert at such things. I find it possible that it is not fake, but - having no real knowledge on how someone falls from the chair after having shot themselves on the backside of their head - cannot say it for sure.

What do you think?

Moonshadow wrote:

I am really unsure. Cannot decide if it is fake. Watched it twice to be able to decide, but... I am no expert at such things. I find it possible that it is not fake, but - having no real knowledge on how someone falls from the chair after having shot themselves on the backside of their head - cannot say it for sure.

What do you think?

I am also undecided. I tried to look for info on things like what she was wearing that day or something but found nothing. There were a few comments stating that it wasn't real based on the way she fell but really it was hard to tell. That video was so grainy and it cuts in and out right when she pulls out the gun

Lizpuff wrote:

Moonshadow wrote:

I am really unsure. Cannot decide if it is fake. Watched it twice to be able to decide, but... I am no expert at such things. I find it possible that it is not fake, but - having no real knowledge on how someone falls from the chair after having shot themselves on the backside of their head - cannot say it for sure.

What do you think?

I am also undecided.  I tried to look for info on things like what she was wearing that day or something but found nothing.  There were a few comments stating that it wasn't real based on the way she fell but really it was hard to tell.  That video was so grainy and it cuts in and out right when she pulls out the gun

I'm going off of memory so don't quote me on this but I believe I watched a reenactment of the suicide scene in one of those movies that were going to be released and she was wearing what looked like a checkered sweater and in the video that whoever is claiming is "real", it looks like she's wearing some kind of checkered sweater in that too. It would make sense that if they were making a movie, they'd want her to be wearing something similar to what the real person wore.

I don't know a lot about this case, but I did notice the shirts seemed to be similar.

I think it is real based on the timestamp of the date/time and what she was saying she was quoted way back on what she said before she shot herself. also the logo on the newsdesk

And I know you guys might think oh those details could be fake and be plastered on, but something about the audio (being really dated and from the 70s), and her voice - the delivery, it's her. I believe that is the actual suicide video.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] you might be right!

According to "the man in charge" that day. The video is a fake.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Still, great find.

Oh, okay.

Lizpuff wrote:

sororityalpha wrote:

Her suicide video:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

So what do you think? Real or fake?

I've always wondered why video footages pertaining certain debatable subjects (UFOs, hidden suicide tapes, etc.) are 100% low-fi with unintelligible speech and sloppy resolution (rhetorical question)

Thank you for the debunking link [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. This clears my mind a bit! Glad to know it is fake. I saw the Budd Dwyer video and couldn't stop thinking about it for a long time. I couldn't believe that was shown over and over. Only have myself to blame for watching it but it sure was graphic!

Lizpuff wrote:

Thank you for the debunking link [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].  This clears my mind a bit!  Glad to know it is fake.  I saw the Budd Dwyer video and couldn't stop thinking about it for a long time.  I couldn't believe that was shown over and over.  Only have myself to blame for watching it but it sure was graphic!

No, problem. Yea, the Budd Dwyer one is definitely real. By then people had VCR's and it was probably recorded a bunch of times. Back in 1974, there was no VCR. And I think that's probably why there is no copies of it floating around. Or supposedly the only copy was destroyed.

I don't know if I believe when I read about evidence "being destroyed". I doubt this suicide tape was destroyed just like I doubt the BT were destroyed but at least now we know this is a fake.

The tape, apparently, has been located last year.

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