‘Respected’ officer shoots himself after Ashley Madison leaks

A senior police officer has killed himself after hackers published the names of millions of members on the cheating website Ashley Madison.

Aug 25, 2015
By Nick Hudson

A senior police officer has killed himself after hackers published the names of millions of members on the cheating website Ashley Madison.

Captain Michaelo Gorhum, who has served 25 years with the San Antonio Police Department in Texas, shot himself days after the online adultery site was hacked, triggering the release of almost 37 million email addresses.

His official email address was linked to an account on the website, although it is not confirmed whether the suicide can be directly attributed to the leak.

One of the officer’s colleagues posted a tribute on Facebook: “Rest in Peace Captain Mike Gorhum. You truly are one of the guys, I’ve most respected in my law enforcement career, no task too big, no goal too lofty.”

Meanwhile Toronto Police said it was aware of two more deaths in Canada linked to the data release.

And Acting Staff Superintendent Bryce Evans told media sources today that Ashley Madison’s parent company – Toronto-based online dating and social networking group Avid Media Ltd – is offering a £240,000 reward to anyone providing information that leads to the “identification, arrest and prosecution of the person or persons responsible for the leak of the Ashley Madison database”.

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