Prosecutor pursuing Aaron Swartz linked to suicide of another hacker

The reality is that it is quite rare for a federal defendant to kill themselves. To have 2 of them (that we know about) stemming from prosecutions by one individual, I would have to say, is pretty remarkable. While it could just be a coincidence, the one common denominator in these two statistically rare incidents is Stephen Heymann.<p>We'll just call him "Suicide Steve".<p>On a somewhat related note, the callousness of the people that work in the MA US Attorney's office apparently extends to their spouses. The husband of US Attorney Carmen Ortiz posted on his (now deleted) twitter account criticizing Aaron's family for the content of his obituary (screenshot of his tweet here - <a href="http://imgur.com/IR5ah" rel="nofollow">http://imgur.com/IR5ah</a> ).

I can understand how people might expect different behavior in the Swartz case. But what in the behavior discussed in this article is other than exactly what you would expect? <i>Of course</i> she is going to prosecute a credit card thief who has stolen tens of thousands of cards. How does this stack up as added evidence against her?

<a href="https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/fire-assistant-us-attorney-steve-heymann/RJKSY2nb" rel="nofollow">https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/fire-assistant-us-...</a>

&#62; In 2008 Jonathan James killed himself after being implicated in the largest personal identity hack in history.<p>Wrong kind of hacker.

"Swartz’s attorney Elliot Peters accused Heymann of aggressively pursuing Swartz because the case “"was going to receive press and he was going to be a tough guy and read his name in the newspaper.""<p>This is very similar to how many SV startup founders and CEO's roll. Press-coverage and case-studies are more important than actually doing something worth doing.

Seems like we need a prosecutor with the zeal of Stephen Heymann to go after Stephen Heymann. This guy's history has a smell. Two suicides? Maybe there's something more going on? Maybe not, but it's worth a look.

Already discussed three days ago <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5049881" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5049881</a>

One factoid in the article about Aaron Swartz's case confuses me:<p>"Though JSTOR decided not to press charges – and even urged the US government to drop the case – MIT went ahead with a civil suit."<p>First I've heard of a civil suit by MIT against Swartz. Has anyone seen anything corroborating this?

<i>I bet 99% of "hackers" (I'm using the criminal sense of the word, that I hate to use, btw) have psychological issues of one way or another and they are a suicide risk!</i> The SS, prosecutors and whoever handles these people should fucking take that into account and put it in balance with the fact that they are a valuable resource to society! You may put a "criminal hacker" in jail for credit card fraud, but chances are, if he doesn't stay in there too long to get his brain "fried", he will grow up to become the security guy that keeps shit safe so you can keep online shopping 'till you drop!<p>I mean... these guys are a subset of what one calls "infosec field people" that are a subset of "IT people" that are a subset of "tech people"... the smaller the subset the less the chance that a member of it will be (1) "well socialized", (2) "psychologically robust" or even (3) "sane"... add up that they're in their 20s and... what would you freakin expect?!

Dr. Steve, Assisted suicide expert.

Only one person is responsible for a suicide--the person who committed suicide. This realization is a very important part of the healing process for those left behind. Otherwise it's possible to torture oneself thinking "if only I'd done more."<p>Logically, if it's partially Steve Heymann's fault, it could also partially be the fault of those close to Aaron who did not sufficiently help him. Or at least, there is a danger that those close to Aaron could feel this way--it's very common in suicides. But ultimately, Aaron chose to kill himself, and it was solely his decision to do so.

<i>Two weeks after the Secret Service raided his house in conjunction with the investigation led by Heymann into the theft of tens of thousands of credit card numbers, James was found dead.</i><p>Innocent people do not kill themselves when confronted with the possibility of a trial. They kill themselves <i>after</i> they have lost at trial. This other hacker (Jonathan James) didn't even wait until they pressed charges.<p>It's not a matter of the prosecutor being overzealous. It's a matter of hackers being far more susceptible to suicidal tendencies than others in the face of extreme social conflict.

I don't understand why people like JJ kill just themself. Me, I would go postal (kill someone from that 'justice' system?) in a situation like this. And only then myself. At least I hope I would have the guts to.

Don't think twice if devil has horns or tail; here is the photo: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2013/01/Stephen-Heymann.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2013/01/Stephen-Heymann....</a>