Death of Brandon Vedas
{{short description|2003 drug overdose death}}
{{use mdy dates |date=November 2020}}
{{infobox person
|name = Brandon Vedas
|birth_name = Brandon Carl Vedas
|birth_date = {{birth date|1981|4|21}}
|known = Overdose caught on webcam
|death_date = {{death date and age|2003|1|12|1981|4|21}}
|death_place = Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
|death_cause = Drug overdose
|occupation = Computer enthusiast, recreational drug user
}}
Brandon Carl Vedas (April 21, 1981 – January 12, 2003), also known by his nickname ripper on IRC, was an American computer enthusiast, recreational drug user and member of the Shroomery.org community who died of a multiple drug overdose while discussing what he was doing via chat and webcam. His death led to debate about the responsibilities and roles of online communities in life-threatening situations.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2724819.stm |title=Net grief for online 'suicide' |work=BBC News |date=4 February 2003 |accessdate=July 23, 2010 |archive-date=July 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716064636/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2724819.stm |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Helen |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/02/02/2003-02-02_he_takes_fatal_od_as_interne.html |title=He Takes Fatal OD As Internet Pals Watch: Chatroom vultures egged him to pop more Rx pills |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20100709214122/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/02/02/2003-02-02_he_takes_fatal_od_as_interne.html |archivedate=2010-07-09 |work=New York Daily News |date=February 2, 2003 |accessdate=July 23, 2010 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=725033 |title=Obituary: Brandon Carl Vedas |work=The Arizona Republic |date=January 16, 2003 |access-date=November 5, 2020 |archive-date=January 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130210345/https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=725033 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Craig |first=Olga |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1421554/Chatmates-watched-internet-suicide.html |title=Chatmates watched internet suicide |work=Telegraph.co.uk |date=February 9, 2003 |accessdate=December 17, 2008 |archive-date=October 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010211439/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1421554/Chatmates-watched-internet-suicide.html |url-status=live }}
Overview
The video chat session began when Vedas logged into the IRC channel and announced "i got a grip of drugs", inviting other users to access his webcam feed and watch him take them. While some of the substances were illicit, most of them had apparently been obtained through legitimate prescriptions for treatment of various illnesses from which Vedas was said to have suffered.
Vedas then began consuming psilocybe mushrooms, which had been stored in a prescription medication bottle. As the chat session progressed, one of the users in the channel, grphish, noted "that's a lot of klonopin" and this is thought to be when Vedas consumed 8 mg of clonazepam.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} Vedas continued by showing the webcam viewers what would be one of four bottles of methadone that he would consume over the course of the session, and, after noting this on the channel, proceeded to consume an entire bottle (reportedly 80 mg of methadone). After a brief respite, Vedas then consumed 110 mg of propranolol (Inderal), two Vicodin tablets, and 120 mg temazepam, which seem to have been taken in between descriptions given on the IRC channel.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
During this process, Vedas maintained that this was "usual weekend behavior" for him and that he had consumed similar quantities of the same substances on previous occasions. "I told u I was hardcore" was one of the last things Vedas typed,{{cite web|url=http://egomania.nu/princessnatalie.com/4.html|title=Brandon Vedas aka Ripper Chat room Log |website=egomania.nu|access-date=2013-01-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127132021/http://egomania.nu/princessnatalie.com/4.html|archive-date=2013-01-27|url-status=dead}} and he was found dead by his mother the next day.{{cite book |last1=Bering |first1=Jesse |title=Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves |date=23 October 2020 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-75555-7 |page=160 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5IlEAAAQBAJ |language=en}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.brandonvedas.com Memorial site created by his brother]
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618053844/http://mirrored.flabber.nl/gozer.irc.webcam.OD/ripperlog.txt |date=June 18, 2009 |title=IRC log of incident (part 1) }}
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031009052158/http://mirrored.flabber.nl/gozer.irc.webcam.OD/post-ripperlog.txt |date=October 9, 2003 |title=IRC log of incident (part 2) }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vedas, Brandon Carl}}
Category:Deaths by person in Arizona
Category:Drug-related suicides in Arizona
Category:Filmed deaths in the United States
Category:People from Phoenix, Arizona