James Larkin, co-founder of the Phoenix New Times, an anti-war newspaper founded at Arizona State University in 1970 that would lead to an empire of alternative weeklies in 18 cities across the country, and co-defendant in a federal trial just days away, died by suicide on Monday, July 31.
Local police confirmed the 74-year-old died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in Superior, Arizona.
The former newspaper owner, along with former New Times editor Michael Lacey and five others, was staring down a three-month trial, collectively facing 100 felony counts of facilitating prostitution in violation of the U.S. Travel Act, money laundering and conspiracy before his death.
