R. Budd Dwyer

Robert "Budd" Dwyer was an American politician from the state of Pennsylvania. He served from 1971 to 1981 as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate representing the state's 50th district, and he served from 1981 until 1987 as the 30th Treasurer of Pennsylvania.

In the early 1980s, it had been discovered that Pennsylvanian government workers had overpaid federal taxes, and many accounting firms competed for a multimillion-dollar contract to calculate the amount to be repaid to each employee. Dwyer was convicted in 1986 of receiving a bribe from a Californian firm meant to persuade him to ensure that the company received the contract. He consistently maintained throughout his trial and after his conviction along with many others that he was completely innocent of this charge and that he had been framed.

On the morning of January 22, 1987, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth with a revolver during a televised press conference at his office in Harrisburg, the state capital of Pennsylvania.