Suicide show will go on

2003-10-04 08:48

Tampa, Florida - Ignoring threats of criminal charges, a band leader promised to proceed with plans for a live suicide during a concert that will be broadcast over the Internet on Saturday night.

Hell on Earth leader Billy Tourtelot said on the band's Web site on Friday that the concert and suicide will take place in an undisclosed location in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The band intends to broadcast the event on its Web page and asks its fans to visit the site for the performance at 19:30 (23:30 GMT).

Tourtelot's announcement last month that he would host the suicide of a terminally ill fan led the city to ban the event with an ordinance and prompted a judge to issue an injunction against it.

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist has said that anyone who assists in a suicide could be charged with a felony and face up to 15 years in prison.

Kevin Hayslett, an attorney for Tourtelot, said the band leader wanted to go ahead with the show despite the lawyer's advice that he not do so. Hayslett said he did not know the concert's location.

St. Petersburg city officials could not be reached late on Friday. A police dispatcher said no one would be available to comment until Saturday.

The person threatening suicide has said he is dying and wants to promote his right-to-die views. Tourtelot said he gave his terminally ill friend an oath that the show would go on.

"This is about standing up for what you believe in and I am a strong supporter of physician-assisted suicide," said a Web site statement attributed to Tourtelot.

Tourtelot, 33, did not respond to messages left for him by The Associated Press on Friday. The other members of the band have not been heard from throughout the controversy, which has earned the group worldwide publicity.

Jason Trindade, the operator of a San Diego-based technology company that hosts the band's Web site, said he would continue serving the site and carry the concert until he receives complaints from law enforcement officials to shut it down.

"They haven't broken any law and I can't just turn them off," he said. "Myself, I think it's pretty twisted."

He said the site has been attacked by hackers, causing it to be temporarily shut down earlier this week. He says he has received threats of possible cyberattacks for Saturday's concert.

- AP