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Douglas S. Malan

The Connecticut Law Tribune

10-31-2007

The saga of missing Clinton, Conn., lawyer Jonathan Hoyt has ended with his suicide in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Hoyt, a 59-year-old business law attorney believed to have embezzled close to $700,000 from about a dozen clients, was found by police Monday around 11 a.m. in his one-bedroom apartment that he had been renting since Aug. 30.

Cedar Rapids police Lt. Kenneth Washburn said there was "no indication of foul play," without providing further details.

Dr. Donald J. Linder, chief medical examiner of Linn County in Iowa, said that Hoyt's death was "a well-planned suicide," but declined to comment further until a final autopsy report is ready within a couple of weeks.

Police were called by Hoyt's landlord, Richard G. Hileman, a semiretired lawyer from Cedar Rapids. Hileman said that Hoyt began renting the apartment two months ago under the name Jim Bragg of NY Biz Systems, a company Hoyt portrayed as assisting companies going through bankruptcy and other financial difficulties.

Hileman received a letter in the mail from Hoyt on Monday: "It said that by the time I had received the letter, he would've committed suicide and not to call 9-1-1 because he didn't want anyone to be hurt rushing over to the apartment," Hileman said.

Hoyt signed the letter using his real name, Hileman noted.

"I didn't quite know what to make of it," Hileman added. "I thought I was getting his rent check or his 30-day notice" of vacating the apartment for which he was paying $470 per month.

Hileman said he drove to the apartment building and told his wife to call the police. Hileman added that he had had only brief encounters with Hoyt but had found him to be a "very likable guy.

"He had only been here two months, and I really didn't know the gentleman," Hileman said. "[Hoyt's stay] was just unremarkable until [Monday]."

Hoyt had been missing since early July. Clinton police officers investigating the case estimate that Hoyt embezzled almost $700,000.