--- title: "Boeing Whistleblower Before Death: “If Anything Happens, It’s Not Suicide”" description: "Before his untimely death, a Boeing whistleblower told his friend that if anything happened to him, \"it's not suicide.\"" date: "2024-03-15" modified: "2024-03-15" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-whistleblower-warning-not-suicide" categories: - "Boeing" - "Future Society" - "Space" tags: - "boeing" - "suicide" - "the digest" - "whistleblower" --- # Boeing Whistleblower Before Death: “If Anything Happens, It’s Not Suicide” ![Before his untimely death, a Boeing whistleblower told his friend that if anything happened to him, "it's not suicide."]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Curious Causes As Boeing continues [to be in the news]() for its [repeatedly]() [malfunctioning]() [planes](), the fallout from one ex-employee's death continues — and new reports complicate the coroner's initial suicide ruling. In an [interview with Charleston, South Carolina's *ABC4 News*](), a friend of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, whose body was found dead in a car parked in a hotel lot amid his testimony against his former employer last weekend, said that he warned her that something might happen to him. "I said, 'Aren't you scared?'" the woman, who gave only her first name Jennifer, told the local broadcaster. "And he said, 'No, I ain't scared, but if anything happens to me, it's not suicide.'" Jennifer said that Barnett's words were spoken ahead of his deposition against Boeing. At the time, he'd mentioned that the company had retaliated against him for raising safety concerns before — which was, indeed, the subject of his Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) [complaint]() that led to his now-unfinished deposition. The woman, who lives in the whistleblower's home state of Louisiana where he'd moved in recent years to take care of his aging mother, said that that cryptic warning has come back to haunt her since Barnett's death, which a coroner in Charleston says was self-inflicted. "I know that he did not commit suicide," Jennifer told *ABC4*. "There's no way. He loved life too much. He loved his family too much. He loved his brothers too much to put them through what they're going through right now." ## Hearsay She's not alone in that sentiment either, it seems. In a statement to *Futurism*, Barnett's attorneys said that they also "[didn't see any indication]()" that the whistleblower may have been planning to take his own life, and that he'd seemed in "good spirits" as his deposition was coming to a close. Not everyone close to the longtime Boeing quality control manager agrees with that sentiment, however. In an [interview with the *Seattles Times*](), Barnett's niece, Katelyn Gillespie, said that her "fun uncle" had become "stressed and depressed" in recent months as his ex-employer was in the news amid the same kinds of safety concerns he'd raised and ultimately resigned over. "He battled a lot due to the Boeing stuff," the whistleblower's niece said. "It took a major toll on him." Despite the Charleston County coroner's preliminary autopsy report on the cause of death being a self-inflicted gunshot wound and that local police found, [per the city's *Live 5 News*](), "some sort of note," authorities said they are still actively investigating the case while awaiting an official coroner's ruling. As in other [suspicious]() [whistleblower]() [suicides](), it's almost impossible for anyone to know exactly what happened when Barnett died — but with this new claim from someone close to Barnett, things just got a lot more complicated. **More on Boeing:** [*Pilot Lost Control of Boeing Jet Because Gauges “Went Blank," Causing Nosedive*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()