Boeing whistleblower John Barnett made a grim prediction that he could potentially end up dead after raising safety concerns about the jetliner giant, allegedly telling a family friend: “If anything happens, it’s not suicide.”
Barnett, 62, was found dead in his pickup truck in a Charleston, South Carolina, hotel parking lot on March 9 — the same day he was due to conclude his closed-door testimony in a lawsuit slapped against his former employer.
Authorities — who are still probing his death — initially said Barnett died from a “self-inflicted” gunshot wound to the head, but his lawyers, family, and friends have since raised doubts over whether the ex-Boeing quality control engineer actually took his own life.
“I know that he did not commit suicide. There’s no way,” a family friend, only identified as Jennifer, told ABC 4.
The friend claimed Barnett had speculated to her that he might end up dead after he started speaking out publicly about his Boeing-related safety concerns following his retirement in 2017.
“He wasn’t concerned about [his own] safety because I asked him,” Jennifer told the outlet. “I said, ‘Aren’t you scared?’ And he said, ‘No, I ain’t scared, but if anything happens to me, it’s not suicide.’”
Read the full story at the New York Post.
