ANGELES CITY, Philippines – A retired US serviceman was found dead in his room in the Malabanias district here on Thursday in an apparent case of suicide, police said Friday.
Chief Inspector Luisito Tan of the Police Station 4 said David John Stevens, 59, was seen alive after after returning Thursday from a check-up at the Veterans Affairs Medical Clinic in Pasay City.
Stevens, who had been undergoing treatment for cancer for six years, “ingested large doses of valium and morphine to end his life,” Tan said, citing a suicide note found on the former soldier’s table.
“I have decided to take my life [because] I have no friends and been in constant pain for over 6 years,” read the suicide note. “VA [Veterans Affairs] refuses to help and especially Social Security. I cannot live on 1,000 USD a month. No family and friends.”
Tan said Stevens’ body was found by an attendant of the building where he rented an apartment.
In the suicide letter, Stevens requested that a certain Pauli, whose number was in his mobile phone, be contacted.
He said he wanted his body cremated and his ashes shipped to Lunds Corner Lutheran Church in Massachusetts and then spread over the graves of his parents.
The remains of Stevens were taken to a funeral parlor for autopsy.