Tony Kiritsis

Diagnoses

Passions

American kidnapper, a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana who had fallen behind on the payments on a mortgage on a piece of real estate. In early February 1977, when his mortgage broker, Richard O. Hall, refused to give him additional time to pay, Kiritsis became convinced that Hall (and his father) wanted the property, which had increased in value and would be sold at a high profit. On 8 February 1977, Kiritsis went to Hall's office and wired a sawed-off shotgun to his hand. The other end of the wire was connected to the trigger and then to Hall's neck. This "dead man's line" meant that if a policeman shot Kiritsis, the shotgun would go off and shoot Hall in the head. The same would happen if Hall tried to escape. Kiritsis called the police from Hall's office and told the police he had taken Hall as a hostage. Kiritsis held Hall hostage for 63 hours. Eventually, Kiritsis released Hall. To prove the gun had been loaded, he fired it into the air, and was immediately arrested. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Kiritsis was released from a mental institution in January 1988, after the state could not prove he was still a danger to society. Kiritsis died on 28 January 2005 at his home of natural causes, aged 72. Link to Wikipedia biography