{"id":15846,"date":"2021-04-07T01:10:41","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T01:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=15846"},"modified":"2021-04-12T23:37:50","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T23:37:50","slug":"slings-and-arrows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/07\/slings-and-arrows\/","title":{"rendered":"Slings And Arrows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valley reels from 3 high-profile suicides in just 6 months<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Eric Valentine<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"It\u2019s one of those things during the pandemic that health experts have also been warning us about. As we isolate to try to protect ourselves against a potentially deadly novel virus, do we open ourselves up to other epidemics at times equally fatal; specifically, issues like domestic violence and suicide, which in isolation can fester and sometimes even intertwine.<\/p>\n

In just the last six months, Valley residents have witnessed three higher-profile suicide incidents. In October of last year, Jared Murphy\u2014a former Hailey police officer and Bellevue mayoral candidate\u2014allegedly shot and killed a former girlfriend before ending his own life inside the Bellevue coffee shop where she worked. The Blaine County Prosecutor released Idaho State Police investigators\u2019 findings last week declaring the incident was murder-suicide.<\/p>\n

And then, within one two-day period at the end of last month, two more suicides sent Valley residents emotionally reeling. Stephen Begley, 64, of Hailey, had struck Sarah Cardella, 42, of Boise, with his Subaru Outback when she was walking westbound in the south crosswalk of Maple and Main streets with her husband and dog, March 25. Begley exited his vehicle, observed what happened, and then sat back down in the driver\u2019s seat and took his own life by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Hailey Police Chief Steve England confirmed in a statement. Cardella was transported to the Wood River St. Luke\u2019s hospital by ambulance, and the injuries she sustained were non-life-threatening. Cardella\u2019s husband and dog did not sustain any physical injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know Begley was talking on his cellular phone at the time of the collision and the case is still pending Begley\u2019s toxicology results,\u201d England said.<\/p>\n

On March 26, Johnny Richard Hood, 50, apparently took his own life. Hood was known by friends and family as \u201cRico\u201d and was a popular musician around town, performing solo, in bands, and while hosting open mic nights in Bellevue and Hailey, too. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRico was a good friend, open and supportive. His contribution to the musical culture in our valley was profound. I\u2019m personally devastated by his passing and shall miss him greatly,\u201d wrote Bellevue resident John Marsh on Hood\u2019s memory wall on the Wood River Chapel website.<\/p>\n

\u201cPost-vention\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

While it may feel like the stories just described are over, Tammy Davis is trying to raise awareness that after suicide is when certain work begins. Davis is the executive director of the Crisis Hotline Idaho. She explained that suicide prevention needs to occur before someone takes their life and after, so that a community can heal and learn everything from new coping mechanisms to how to spot a potential mental health issue in friends, family and other loved ones.<\/p>\n

Across the country, there are awareness campaigns focused on knowing the five signs of emotional pain. They are:<\/p>\n