Theresa Duncan & Jeremy Blake
There are a lot of journalists going over the facts and shared stories behind the 2007 suicides of TD & JB. If you don’t know the story, I’ll start from the beginning:
Theresa & Jeremy had recently left their Los Angeles home in February of 2007 (in quite a hurry) and had been living in the upstairs apartment in the rectory at St. Mark’s Church In The Bowery in NYC’s lower east side. They were catalysts in the city’s art scene and well known to many.
Theresa, who had previously become known for creating a few of the first girl-friendly CD-ROM video games “Chop Suey”, “Smartypants” and “Zero, Zero” as well as her short film “The History of Glamour”- was having frustrations in getting her newest film “Alice Underground” picked up.
Jeremy had taken a full-time job upon their move to NYC at Rockstar Games. At the time, his career was moving along nicely and he was making a name for himself in the digital art world. Some of his more identifiable works included his painting of abstract hallucination scenes in the 2002 film Punch-Drunk Love, as well as the album artwork and video for Beck’s Sea Change.
The two had what was described as a symbiotic and obsessive bond, which spanned their 12 year relationship.
On July 3rd, 2007 the couple hosted a fundraising event at St Marks in order to raise money to repair the facade. St Marks, being at the forefront of liberal activism as it was, welcomed avant-garde events such as this. Father Frank Morales was himself a driving force behind New York liberal activism and integrated these ideas into the church. (See: 9/11 Was An Inside Job)
For some time prior to this night (and we can conclude that this was the basis for their sudden move from LA), Theresa and Jeremy had become increasingly aware (or as others will say: paranoid) of their being followed and harassed. They believed the entity that was stalking them to be members of the Church of Scientology. Close friends have recounted numerous occasions when the couple cut off contact with them suddenly, accusing them of being Scientologists. When in LA, Theresa posted to her (very well known and followed) blog, “The Wit of the Staircase” about dead cats being planted outside of their home, seeing graffiti that mimicked their own signatures, and even the son of a man who had many connections to the mob and CIA pacing in front of their home.
On this particular night, as the party below raged, guests began to wonder where their illustrious hosts were. You see, Jeremy and Theresa were the cornerstone of the world they lived in. Theresa who was wildly beautiful, blonde and intelligent paired with Jeremy’s shared love for art and knowledge made them a powerhouse of influence. Friends recall that it was challenging and intimidating to keep up with their conversations and that the two never disagreed with one another. As more and more friends began to wonder where they were, someone finally thought to check in the upstairs apartment of the rectory. There they found the two, huddled by the window and gazing down onto the party below. When asked why they wouldn’t come down the couple explained that they were having a ‘shared vision’ that the barbeque grill would explode and it would cause Theresa to become injured.
This was not incredibly unusual of the couple, but for many this was their last encounter with their beloved friends and so it became a memorable eve.
On July 10, 2007 Jeremy and Theresa met for a late lunch together. Following lunch, Jeremy was out for a few hours. Upon returning to the rectory he stopped to invite Father Morales up to their apartment for a drink. As Jeremy climbed the stairs and entered their apartment, he found the shocking sight of his lover’s body on the ground alongside a bottle of Tylenol PM and a glass of whiskey. A note was left, which there is some discrepancy on what it actually said. Most accounts say it was simply “I love all of you”, and others say it briefly detailed that she was at peace with her decision. The most notable part about the suicide note is that it was simply typed on the computer and not handwritten.
In the days that followed, numerous friends took shifts in watching over Jeremy as they feared he may make a rash decision in the wake of his partner’s death. However, all recounted that he seemed to be handling everything much better than they expected. One week after, the friend acting as his caretaker went out to run a few errands to prepare for their drive to Michigan the next day to attend Theresa’s funeral. When he returned, Jeremy was gone.
A 911 call came in that day from a woman who said she witnessed a man remove all of his clothing on Rockaway Beach and walk into the ocean.
Jeremy’s body wouldn’t be found for another week.
On the following Halloween, Theresa’s followers were surprised to find that a new post had been added to her blog. And then again, another, on that New Years Eve. Both posthumous writings included references to communicating from the afterlife and the concept of a new beginning. Many journalists have found it puzzling that a woman of her level of intelligence and so fond of prose would leave such a short and inadequate suicide note, yet have so meticulously planned her Internet presence after her death. Not to mention the concept that for someone who drank quite heavily and on a regular basis, that a simple concoction of whiskey and Tylenol PM would bring her to her death. None of it seemed eloquent, or appropriate for Theresa’s very defined style.
This is the part where you either choose to go all the way down the rabbit hole, or you don’t. There are blogs that have made speculations into a long line of CIA and other organizational connections (for a good starting point see the post on The Wit of The Staircase titled “The Problem With Anna Gaskell” —Anna was a former girlfriend of Jeremy’s with strong ties to radical right wing conservatism). Or, as you fall further you may notice that Theresa was working on a piece entitled “Dick Cheney and The Devil”, and that there are a string of subsequent relationships that dip into sensitive matters of the radical right wing agenda including the existence of the MK-ULTRA program and government involvement with a high-profile pedophilia ring. You will undoubtedly run across theories that this is all just a part of an alternate reality game, an elaborate scheme to keep us all in the dark fueled by the power of the Internet and Theresa’s mastermind. Some will call them crazy and paranoid while others who knew them well will deny those attributes. Some theories will even put all of the blame on Beck (yes, that Beck). Nonetheless, we are left with only the information we have available to us to draw our own endings to this story.
For me- do I think that the pair committed suicide of their own free will? No.
Do I think that there was some organization (The CoS or CIA) responsible? Possibly, but probably not.
Do I think these two were intelligent and savvy enough to fake their own deaths? Absolutely. If you dig back through The Wit Of The Staircase, Theresa alludes many times to the idea of magic and slight-of-hand. How some things can be easily covered up by a larger thing, and that time is essential to learning the truth. When even a small amount of time has passed between the act and the viewer, the magician has all of the advantage. And if nothing else, we know that these two are most certainly capable of magic or at the very least, making others believe that such magic exists.
God speed, Theresa & Jeremy… wherever you are.
