Overall, I think it’s quite compelling evidence it was a suicide.
The points against it being suicide are:
The somewhat awkward angle of the gun
The lack of gunpowder on the skin surrounding the wound
The lack of stippling around the wound
Some small potential inconsistencies between parent’s account and police report (such as the claim by parents that father talked to Suchir by phone on Friday)
Had a project to live for as a whistleblower against OpenAI
Suchir’s family insists he wasn’t suicidal; he seemed overall to be living a good life
The points for it are:
No signs of forced entry or struggle
The gun was purchased by and registered to Suchir
There was gunpowder residue on Suchir’s hands and Suchir’s DNA was on the gun
The door to his apartment was locked
Internet searches on his computer related to “total gray matter volume” and “white matter” in brain
The toxicology report shows he was drunk
The base-rate of suicide is much higher than homicide
Theories about who would have a motivation to kill him seem far-fetched to me; OpenAI is getting much worse press form the suicide than they likely would have if he hadn’t killed himself
General notes summarizing the report:
Suchir was found by the police on Tuesday, 11/26/24, at his apartment at 188 Buchanan Street Apartment #409; as part of a wellness check (requested by his mother)
Apartment was locked with a deadbolt, no signs of forced entry to the apartment or signs of struggle within the apartment; desktop computer with searchers for “total gray matter volume” and “white matter”; key for apartment was found in unit
Last communicated with his mother via text on Friday, 11/22/2024 (the parents in interviews have claimed that their last contact with him was when he talked with his father by phone on Friday night but the police report doesn’t mention this)
Death was from gunshot wound to the head; entry point at the glabella of the forehead (between the eyes), centered approximately 13 cm below the top of the head and 0.5 cm right of the anterior midline
Bullet traveled down and back and into the neck, where it was recovered; soot and unburned gunpowder was not readily visible on the skin, no gunpowder stippling was found around the wound
Glock pistol found at scene; 4 live rounds, 1 spent casing; pistol was purchased and registered by Suchir on 01/04/2024; gunpowder residue was found on both of Suchir’s hands; Suchir’s DNA was found on the pistol; markings on the bullet recovered during examination matched unique striations left by the pistol’s barrel
Toxicology report showed .178 BAC level (very intoxicated); blood Amphetamine levels between 35 ng/mL and 39 ng/mL (not very notable); GHB levels between 54,000 ng/mL and 67,000 ng/mL (apparently this is within normal ranges for how much buildup of GHB you might naturally expect given the body had been decaying for a few days)
Decomposition of the body was moderate when found.
A lot of suicides are impulse decisions, and access to firearms is a known suicide risk factor.
People often commit suicide with weapons they bought months, years or even decades ago—not because they planned their suicide this far ahead, but because they used a firearm that was already available.
The understanding is, without a gun at hand, suicidal people often opt for other suicide methods—ones that take much longer to set up and are far less reliable. This gives them more time and sometimes more chances to reconsider—and many of them do.
I mean, suicide seems much more likely to me given the circumstances… but I also would describe this as compelling evidence. Like, if he had been killed and there wasn’t a fight, him being drunk makes sense as a way to have pre-rendered him helpless by someone planning to kill him? Similarly, wouldn’t a cold-blooded killer be expected to be wearing gloves and to place Suchir’s hand on the gun before shooting him?
I agree that a skilled murderer could try make the death look like suicide, but each of the places where the murderer would need to make the death look like a suicide would add an additional failure point with a greater chance of producing some inconsistency.
On Suchir being drunk, according to his parents, he came back from a birthday trip to LA with his friends on Friday. So, this might explain why he was drunk. We don’t know exactly when he got back though / whether he was drunk when he got back / whether he got drunk afterwards.
Originally, the parents visited the apartment with George Webb, who was an independent journalist and a bit of a conspiracy theorist. On that visit, George Webb said that there was hair under the doorframe in a way that was unusual. Suchir’s mother also discusses it in the Tucker Carlson interview (starting at 26:00).
There was no mention of a wig in the police report, though.
The Suchir Balaji Autopsy Report came out recently
Overall, I think it’s quite compelling evidence it was a suicide.
The points against it being suicide are:
The somewhat awkward angle of the gun
The lack of gunpowder on the skin surrounding the wound
The lack of stippling around the wound
Some small potential inconsistencies between parent’s account and police report (such as the claim by parents that father talked to Suchir by phone on Friday)
Had a project to live for as a whistleblower against OpenAI
Suchir’s family insists he wasn’t suicidal; he seemed overall to be living a good life
The points for it are:
No signs of forced entry or struggle
The gun was purchased by and registered to Suchir
There was gunpowder residue on Suchir’s hands and Suchir’s DNA was on the gun
The door to his apartment was locked
Internet searches on his computer related to “total gray matter volume” and “white matter” in brain
The toxicology report shows he was drunk
The base-rate of suicide is much higher than homicide
Theories about who would have a motivation to kill him seem far-fetched to me; OpenAI is getting much worse press form the suicide than they likely would have if he hadn’t killed himself
General notes summarizing the report:
Suchir was found by the police on Tuesday, 11/26/24, at his apartment at 188 Buchanan Street Apartment #409; as part of a wellness check (requested by his mother)
Apartment was locked with a deadbolt, no signs of forced entry to the apartment or signs of struggle within the apartment; desktop computer with searchers for “total gray matter volume” and “white matter”; key for apartment was found in unit
Last communicated with his mother via text on Friday, 11/22/2024 (the parents in interviews have claimed that their last contact with him was when he talked with his father by phone on Friday night but the police report doesn’t mention this)
Death was from gunshot wound to the head; entry point at the glabella of the forehead (between the eyes), centered approximately 13 cm below the top of the head and 0.5 cm right of the anterior midline
Bullet traveled down and back and into the neck, where it was recovered; soot and unburned gunpowder was not readily visible on the skin, no gunpowder stippling was found around the wound
Glock pistol found at scene; 4 live rounds, 1 spent casing; pistol was purchased and registered by Suchir on 01/04/2024; gunpowder residue was found on both of Suchir’s hands; Suchir’s DNA was found on the pistol; markings on the bullet recovered during examination matched unique striations left by the pistol’s barrel
Toxicology report showed .178 BAC level (very intoxicated); blood Amphetamine levels between 35 ng/mL and 39 ng/mL (not very notable); GHB levels between 54,000 ng/mL and 67,000 ng/mL (apparently this is within normal ranges for how much buildup of GHB you might naturally expect given the body had been decaying for a few days)
Decomposition of the body was moderate when found.
It’s surprising he bought the gun so long in advance. There should be footage of him buying it I think as required by California law.
A lot of suicides are impulse decisions, and access to firearms is a known suicide risk factor.
People often commit suicide with weapons they bought months, years or even decades ago—not because they planned their suicide this far ahead, but because they used a firearm that was already available.
The understanding is, without a gun at hand, suicidal people often opt for other suicide methods—ones that take much longer to set up and are far less reliable. This gives them more time and sometimes more chances to reconsider—and many of them do.
He may have bought it originally for protection?
I mean, suicide seems much more likely to me given the circumstances… but I also would describe this as compelling evidence. Like, if he had been killed and there wasn’t a fight, him being drunk makes sense as a way to have pre-rendered him helpless by someone planning to kill him? Similarly, wouldn’t a cold-blooded killer be expected to be wearing gloves and to place Suchir’s hand on the gun before shooting him?
I agree that a skilled murderer could try make the death look like suicide, but each of the places where the murderer would need to make the death look like a suicide would add an additional failure point with a greater chance of producing some inconsistency.
On Suchir being drunk, according to his parents, he came back from a birthday trip to LA with his friends on Friday. So, this might explain why he was drunk. We don’t know exactly when he got back though / whether he was drunk when he got back / whether he got drunk afterwards.
what was up with the alleged wig?
Originally, the parents visited the apartment with George Webb, who was an independent journalist and a bit of a conspiracy theorist. On that visit, George Webb said that there was hair under the doorframe in a way that was unusual. Suchir’s mother also discusses it in the Tucker Carlson interview (starting at 26:00).
There was no mention of a wig in the police report, though.
You can see what he’s referring to in the pictures Webb published of the scene.
I remember the mom saying it was a wig in the Tucker Carlson interview.