This topic seems to come up several times a year. Since I found the actual newspaper article, I thought I'd quote all the facts off it and in the future visitors to the site can use the search function to find this info.


The Oregonian article dated 11-9-72
KXYI Oregon City
15201 SE Johnson Rd
22 y/o dj hanged himself with telephone cord.
Name: Michael David Roberts
2811 SE 145th Ave
Survivors, wife Sherry, 18 mo. old child
Listener called State Police at 4:22 AM when finished record did not get changed and nobody at the station answered.
Trooper Jerry Hupp found body and a note at 4:45AM.
Last entry in station log was at 4:05 AM.
Last song played was "Softly as I Leave You" by Robert Goulet.

thought it was Sinatra.

A terrible image to conjure up...but absolutely true.

Jim Liniger was the next DJ on duty. He had to begin his shift, while the late Mr. Roberts was still hanging...as police continued their investigation.

"Laid Back" Lenny was mid-day jock at "97 Country" KYTE circa 79-82.

Skep: Thanks for posting the info. Was this all of the article? Does the article give an indication what date it happened? Was it the day before? Sometimes it takes days before these things are reported, especially if it involves media.

Craig, yes, the article said the body was found Wednesday morning. The clipping clearly shows the date of the newspaper, Thursday, November 9, 1972, so we're looking at November 8th as the date it actually occured.

The article did not contain anything else, but if you'd like a copy of the whole thing I'll be happy to send it to you.

That would be great. Thanks!

On a (sort of) funny side note, about a week later, I was on the all-nighter at KGAL in Lebanon. At about 2:00 I put on CCR's "Heard it Through the Grapevine" and laid my head down on the counter for just a second. When I woke up, there were 4 Linn County Sheriff's deputies in the control room! The one that tapped me on the shoulder to wake me said the phone at the sheriff station (this was before 911) lit up like a Christmas Tree!

I think I was one of the last to see Mike Roberts alive. The entire news staff was on air on that Tuesday night because it was election night and everyone was pressed into service. I didn't notice anything unusual about Mike's behavior that night. I was shocked to arrive at the station just before 6AM to see white police cars parked in the parking lot. There must have been a half dozen of them. Harry Christensen told me about what happened. It was later revealed that Mike had some doubts about his sexuality. I was told that he feared he was gay and that it upset him. I beleive that his struggle with that issue is what led him to his suicide. It was a sad way to end one's life when there were other options available. The culture at the time was not as open and aware of what Mike was dealing with. I am sure he felt alone and could speak to no one about his dilema. If he could have, I think he would still be alive today.

Sobering Radiohead. And very sad.

That child of his would be about 37-38 years old now.

...Send the police. I just called the local radio station, and no one answered the phone.

I fear foul play. The evil Dr. Otto Mation may be at work..........