Boeing whistleblower John Barnett’s final moments captured in surveillance video as docs shed more light on his death
SURVEILLANCE video of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett on the night he died has been shared by police to calm fears that he may have been murdered.
Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck at a hotel parking lot on March 9 due to a single gunshot wound to the head, investigators said.
NetflixSurveillance video of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett on the night he died has been shared by police to calm fears that he may have been murdered[/caption]
WFLAHe was captured on video entering his hotel in Charleston, South Caroline at 7:36 pm on the night of March 9[/caption]
WFLAHe was then seen exiting the property at 8:37 pm before returning about ten minutes later and sitting in his car, where police found him dead the next morning[/caption]
EPABarnett died the same week he was deposed about wrongdoing at airplane manufacturing giant Boeing[/caption]
A long-time resident of Louisiana, Barnett was visiting Charleston, South Carolina to speak in a deposition against his former employer when he died.
Boeing attorneys deposed him on March 7 and began his own testimony on March 8, with discussions scheduled to continue the next day.
Instead, the 32-year Boeing veteran was found in his car by hotel employees during a welfare check after he did not show up to the meeting.
The Charleston County Coroner’s Office said in their initial victim identification announcement that he died from “what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
This conclusion roused suspicion from some people who questioned the timing of his death in relation to his potentially damning testimony against the airplane manufacturing giant.
On Friday, investigators shared new details and surveillance video from the hotel parking lot in an effort to dissuade further speculation about what may have happened to Barnett.
“Mr. Barnett sustained a fatal gunshot wound to his head at close range while inside his locked vehicle,” the Charleston Police Department said in a statement shared with The U.S. Sun.
“No evidence of forced entry was found and there were no signs of a physical struggle within the vehicle.
“The vehicle’s key fob was discovered in Mr. Barnett’s pants pocket.”
The bullet that killed Barnett came from the Smith and Wesson handgun found in his lap, legally purchased by the deceased in 2000, police said.
TIMELINE LEADING UP TO BARNETT’S DEATH
The video shows Barnett’s truck pulling into the hotel parking lot, as shared by local NBC affiliate WCBD.
Police said he parked at 7:26 pm before entering his room at 7:36 pm.
He then left the property again at 8:37 pm, returning to the parking lot shortly after at 8:45 pm.
“Mr. Barnett’s vehicle was captured on video reversing into a parking space at 8:45 p.m., where it remained stationary until it was discovered by officers the following morning,” police said in their report.
The truck does not move from the spot after that point, and no one approaches or exits the vehicle.
Throughout the night, there was no video evidence of anyone interacting with the vehicle, entering it, or otherwise.
Hotel staff discovered Barnett the next morning after his lawyers requested a welfare check.
They called 911 at 10:13 am.
Officers arrived at the hotel by 10:20 am and pronounced Barnett dead on the scene.
APPARENT SUICIDE NOTE FOUND
Charleston police also said Barnett left a note on the car’s passenger seat.
The coroner said the letter resembled a suicide note and included messages for his loved ones along with critiques of Boeing.
“I can’t do this any longer!!! Enough!!” was written in all-caps across one page, just above another large all-caps message saying “F*** Boeing” and a smaller inscription saying “Family & friends I love you all.”
He wrote “I found my purpose!” and “I’m at peace!” in big print on an adjacent page.
The writing was scrawled in multiple directions and included some seemingly out-of-place comments.
“And I wasn’t stoned when I wrote this — REALLY,” read one, while another simply said “Trump 2024.”
He appeared to have signed the bottom of one page with his name in cursive, adding the nicknames “Swampy” and “Funcle Mitch.”
Charleston Police DepartmentPolice found an apparent suicide note on the seat next to him in the truck he died in[/caption]
WFLABoeing denied the claims made by Barnett but a subsequent FAA investigation corroborated some of his complaints[/caption]
The note appeared to be written by Barnett, investigators confirmed.
“Comprehensive fingerprint analysis confirmed Mr. Barnett’s fingerprints on the notebook. Three prints were inconclusive due to insufficient detail for identification. All fingerprints on the page containing the note were identified as Mr. Barnett’s,” police said.
They also said that Barnett was under extreme stress at the time because of his ongoing dispute with Boeing and personal matters, such as the recent death of his wife.
“Information and records reviewed during the investigation uncovered Mr. Barnett’s longstanding mental health challenges, which had intensified in connection with ongoing legal proceedings related to his whistleblower case,” Friday’s statement said.
But friends and loved ones have cast doubt on the idea that Barnett would want to harm himself.
One friend even said that he told her that if he died, it would not be due to self-harm.
“I said, ‘Aren’t you scared?’ And he said, ‘No, I ain’t scared, but if anything happens to me, it’s not suicide,” the friend, referenced only by her first name Jennifer, told ABC News 4.
A DAMNING CASE AGAINST BOEING
Barnett was a star witness in ongoing investigations into wrongdoing by Boeing, the US’s largest aerospace manufacturer.
Barnett worked for Boeing for 32 years as a quality control manager before retiring in 2017.
BOEING'S RECENT BLUNDERS
BOEING has faced scrutiny in 2024 after a series of concerning malfunctions.
Here’s a list of some of the biggest incidents regarding the aircraft maker:
January 5 – An Alaska Airlines flight is forced to make an emergency landing after a window was ripped out mid-flight.
January 24 – A Delta flight loses its front tire during takeoff at the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.
March 7 – A wheel drops from a United Airlines flight heading to Japan during takeoff.
March 13 – A Boeing 777 is spotted leaking hydraulic fluid during takeoff for a United Airlines flight from Sydney, Australia, to San Francisco, California.
March 14 – An American Airlines flight has to make an emergency landing after one of its tires blew out.
March 19 – The windscreen on a Boeing 737 cracks as an Alaskan Airlines flight makes its landing.
March 31 – A pilot on a United Airlines flight is forced to return to Frankfurt Airport after feces from the waste tank in one of the toilets overflowed, causing a foul smell in the cabin.
April 2 – An Alaska Airlines flight is forced to return to the airport after a faulty bathroom overflowed and sent water flowing down the cabin.
April 8 – A Southwest Airlines flight has to make an emergency landing in Denver, Colorado, after the engine cover ripped off mid-flight.
In 2019, he claimed that workers in Boeing’s overworked North Charleston plant frequently fitted substandard parts on planes and installed faulty oxygen systems that could result in as many as one in four oxygen masks not operating properly.
Boeing denied all of Barnett’s claims, but a resulting investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration provided some proof of his allegations.
The FAA found that more than 50 “non-conforming” parts had gone missing and were unable to be traced in the company’s system.
Theoretically, that means these missing elements could have been mistakenly installed on planes despite not functioning properly.
Police said they hope the details they have shared calm any fears about what happened to Barnett.
“We remain acutely aware of the sensitivity and public interest surrounding this case,” they wrote in the statement.
“It is important to emphasize that our investigation was guided strictly by facts and evidence while remaining undisturbed by conjecture and external pressures.”
“As this investigation comes to a close, we should not forget it represents the loss of Mr. Barnett’s life. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family during this difficult time and hope they continue to find the strength to persevere in his absence,” they added.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
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