Man intentionally jumped from plane without chute
June 10, 2008 — 8.15pm
DUANESBURG, New York - A man who jumped from a skydiving plane without a parachute had been asking co-workers if they would rather die by jumping off a building or out of a plane.
Sloan Carafello, 29, was an observer on the plane on Saturday and witnesses said he leaped out behind three parachuters at 3,000 metres. Police said today he committed suicide.
Carafello recently had unnerved some of his grocery store co-workers by frequently asking them, "If you had to die, would you rather jump off a building or jump out of a plane without a parachute?" Dave Bilili, an assistant manager at the store, told the Times Union of Albany.
Police found Carafello's body next to a house with a damaged roof in a rural town 24 kilometres west of Albany.
"It could have been one of two things, accident or suicide, and we ruled out accident," state police investigator Mario DiCristofaro said Monday.
DiCristofaro would not provide further details of the investigation. An autopsy said the cause of death was massive trauma.
Carafello had lived at a YMCA since August, said Louis Magliocca, the residence director. He said investigators searched Carafello's room, but did not find a suicide note.
Bob Rawlins, who owns the skydiving company and was the pilot on Saturday, said Carafello had asked to take a ride so he could take pictures for a school project. A videographer on board captured images of Carafello leaving the plane and turned it over to police.
"It's not the easiest thing to see," DiCristofaro said. "He comes out of the plane and starts falling."
Police said they will not release the video.