Mystery of the missing millionaire

By the time Sam Israel had been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, John Seigesmund had adopted a new, Zen-like perspective on the crime.

John Seigesmund, victim: Every time I start to get worked up about Bayou, every time I start to think about how mad I am, every time I start to think about how I got suckered, my mantra is: he took $250,000 of your money, that’s all he gets.  He doesn’t get to spoil one day of your life after this.

Easier said than done—especially on one particular day in June, two months after the criminal case against Sam Israel was for all intents and purposes over.

Seigesmund: Every morning I watch CNBC. And I’m sitting there watching Squawk Box and—there’s a runner that comes down below the screen that, “Sam Israel has jumped in an apparent suicide.” 

Jumped? But wasn’t Sam Israel locked up, the key more or less thrown away?

Turns out, that in one concession to mercy, the judge in the case had allowed him two more months free on bail to get his affairs in order.

He was supposed to report to prison in Massachusetts by 2 p.m. on June 9. Instead, just after high noon on that very day, local cops found Israel’s SUV abandoned on the Bear Mountain Bridge, not far from his home north of New York City.

Three words on the vehicle’s hood said it all: “Suicide is Painless”... or at least better than 20 years behind bars.

Seigesmund: He couldn’t bear to go to prison. He just decides that that’s not something he’s gonna do. 

Rescue boats combed the Hudson River below, though surviving such a leap was all but impossible. Cops said they’d seen been at least 30 deadly plunges from that very bridge. The rescue teams were looking for Sam Israel’s remains.

But then after a day of searching and no body, a spokesman for the New York state police was parsing his words in a rather telling way.

New York State police: We are still conducting the investigation as though a suicide occurred, but it hasn’t been factually determined yet.

Seigesmund: When you jump off a bridge, not that I’m an expert in people jumping off of bridges, but, they find bodies. They don’t just vanish. 

As news of Sam Israel’s suicide spread, so did the skepticism.

Ross Intelisano, attorney: Our initial reaction and all the investor’s initial reaction was, “There’s no way this guy ever jumped.”

Murphy: You never bought it.

Intelisano: No. No one. I don’t think anyone [did]. Having already seen one false suicide note in this case, we didn’t believe the second one either.  

In a case that already had one report of a  false suicide, there was reason to believe that what was supposed to have happened here on the Bear Mountain Bridge may in fact have been the ultimate hoax of a veteran con man.

For starters, wouldn’t you think that Sam Israel, with his bad back and addiction to pain-killers would have taken an overdose of pills rather than jump into the Hudson?

And there was this Israel’s girlfriend, presumably the last person to see him alive, told cops that he’d intended to drive himself to prison.  But think about it... Where was he planning to park his car for the next 20 years?

And then, there was that message on the hood: “Suicide is painless.” The phrase is lifted from the theme to the movie “M*A*S*H.” And any Robert Altman fan can tell you that the movie-suicide, by a character nicknamed “Painless,” was really just a practical joke.

Randy Shain, investigator: As soon as I heard the thing about “Suicide is painless,” I said, “But the person in the M*A*S*H movie didn’t kill themselves.” So couldn’t he use a reference of someone who did? 

So were Sam Israel’s parting words, left 150 feet above the mighty Hudson, a final, telling clue?

The search for his remains continued. But where or when he’d turn up, no one had any idea.

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