100 YEARS AGO War’s toll factors into suicide

In a reversal from the previous day’s pronouncements, police and investigators in both Albany and Rensselaer counties now believe that Albany native Harold P. Brierley, the man found dead from a gunshot wound to the chest in the Hudson River near Castleton with a bag of rocks and sand tied around his neck, committed suicide and was not the victim of foul play. This was in spite of earlier declarations that the manner of tying and twisting from behind of the bag would have been impossible for him to have done himself. Brierley’s family members came forward to say they had long worried he would cause himself harm, stemming from his service and injuries during World War I. The Army veteran was first gassed while fighting in France, then was sent back to the front after he was discharged from the hospital only to witness his entire squad wiped out by a German shell thrown into the dugout he had just momentarily left. A piece of shrapnel lodged in his foot and the wound never healed properly, leaving him in constant pain and requiring he wear specially made shoes. Brierley’s brothers said since he had returned home just over one year prior, he was despondent and rarely left the house except to get haircuts. The weighted bag tied by a rope to his neck turned out to be his old barracks bag; an identical one was later found in his room.