Suicide and email

A Washington, D.C.-based attorney who was about to lose his job apparently shot himself in the head with a .38-caliber handgun. Mark Levy had been a deputy assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration and was working for the law firm of Kilpatrick Stockton, which on Tuesday announced that 24 attorneys would be laid off (among them Levy, according to news reports). A source told the WashPost that Levy left a note in his suburban Washington home, saying he loved his family and instructing his wife on how to handle finances and other matters. He obviously had been planning this out because emails to his law firm address bounced back thusly:

"As of April 30, 2009, I can no longer be reached. If your message relates to a firm matter, please contact my secretary . . . If it concerns a personal matter, please contact my wife . . . Thanks."