Suicide victim cited health problems

The Lawrence attorney who shot and killed himself this weekend in South Park was suffering from chronic heart problems and had written in a court document that he expected to die soon.

The widow of Richard A. Krogh, 54, said she thought he killed himself Saturday afternoon in the park in part because its proximity to the police department would make it easier for police called to investigate his death. Also, he didn’t want his family’s home or car to become a police investigation scene, she said.

Christina Krogh said her husband wasn’t depressed. She said she thought he committed suicide out of love for his family, not as a selfish act.

She said he cared about his clients and had few enemies.

“My husband was an honorable man who served his country for 14 years as a Marine,” she said.

The fact Krogh’s death happened in such a public place spurred the head of a local counseling agency to speak out Monday.

Marcia Epstein, director of Headquarters Counseling Center, said the suicide would have an effect on people who witnessed it and on fellow attorneys — not just Krogh’s friends and family members.

She said it was important for people to know that suicide was never someone else’s fault. Also, she said, people need to know that help is available if they’re upset about the death or considering suicide themselves.

“I saw this as having a much broader impact than a lot of deaths would have,” Epstein said.

Headquarters Counseling Center has been certified by the American Association of Suicidology as a suicide prevention center.For more information, call Headquarters at 841-2345.

The Journal-World’s policy is to not report suicides unless they occur in a public place.

In March, Krogh was facing foreclosure proceedings on a Lawrence home he and other family members owned. After the court entered judgment against him, he requested that the sale of the property be postponed until proceeds from his life insurance policy became available.

He wrote that he’d had two heart attacks in early 2003 and that he was making the motion “in causa mortis”– in expectation of death. The sale went ahead despite the request.

Jonathan Becker, a former president of the Douglas County Criminal Defense Bar Assn., said local attorneys felt “shock and regret” about Krogh’s death.

“We lost somebody who was a good member of the bar,” Becker said.