Publisher's Death Was Apparent Suicide, Family Says

By: Publisher and former diplomat Philip Merrill, whose body was recovered from Chesapeake Bay after he disappeared while sailing alone, apparently committed suicide, his family said Tuesday.

Merrill's boat was found adrift June 10 with the engine still running.

"We have come to learn that the events that occurred on June 10 were in all likelihood the result of his own efforts to take his life," Merrill's family said in a statement late Tuesday. "We were shocked at the news and found it very difficult to accept."

A spokesman for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources police, which conducted the investigation, did not return calls Tuesday.

"Phil underwent significant heart surgery over a year ago and was on several medications as a result of it," the family's statement said. "Over the past four weeks, we observed that his spirit had dimmed."

The statement said his relatives discussed their concerns with Merrill's doctor.

Merrill, 72, was board chairman of Capital-Gazette Communications Inc., an Annapolis-based company that publishes Washingtonian magazine, The Capital of Annapolis and five other Maryland newspapers.

He took leave from his publishing duties in December 2002, when he was sworn in as Export-Import Bank of the United States. He stepped down when his term expired in July.

He was assistant secretary-general of NATO from 1990 to 1992.

Related: The Washington Post reports that Merrill shot himself in the head and was found with a small anchor tied around his ankle.