Michael James Marin (December 2, 1958 – June 28, 2012) was an American financier, lawyer, ex-

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

trader, and millionaire who died by suicide by cyanide ingestion in the middle of his court trial shortly after being convicted of

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

Early life

Marin was raised in

Oak Harbor, Washington Oak Harbor is a city located on Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington, United States. The population was 24,622 at the 2020 census. Oak Harbor was incorporated on May 14, 1915. History The Lower Skagit people have inhabited Oak Harb ...

. A member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, he attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

. After college, he enrolled at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

Career

Marin advised on complex investments in the 1980s and '90s, working for

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

, and

Salomon Brothers Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York City. It was one of the five List of investment banks, largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and a very profitabl ...

mainly in their operations in Asia. Marin led a lavish lifestyle, buying a multimillion-dollar mansion in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and collecting works of art that included etchings by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

. He traveled extensively throughout the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

. An avid thrill seeker and adventurer, he travelled to exotic climates and summited the highest peaks of six continents, including

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

in 2001.

Death

Marin was tried for

and insurance fraud for setting his home on fire. Court hearings started on May 21, 2012, and Marin faced 7 to 21 years in prison if convicted. The jury found Marin guilty on June 28, 2012. Soon after the verdict, and being informed that he was to be taken into custody immediately, he died by suicide in court. He was seen in court videos closing his eyes and putting his hands over his face as the verdict was being read, before putting something in his mouth and drinking a liquid. He then fell to the floor and began to convulse. Marin was rushed to a central hospital in Phoenix and was pronounced dead; an autopsy confirmed he had taken a lethal dose of

cyanide In chemistry, cyanide () is an inorganic chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Ionic cyanides contain the cyanide anion . This a ...

. At the time of his death, he was a father of four and a grandfather of two.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marin, Michael 1958 births 2012 suicides Suicides by cyanide poisoning American financiers Place of birth missing American people convicted of arson Filmed suicides Brigham Young University alumni Yale Law School alumni American Latter Day Saints Businesspeople from Phoenix, Arizona Lawyers from Phoenix, Arizona Suicides in Arizona New York (state) lawyers People from Oak Harbor, Washington 2012 deaths Wealth in the United States