Former Formula 1 team boss Max Mosely has reportedly shot himself dead after hearing that he had terminal cancer, a local court has declared.
A gunshot wound was found on Mosley along with other serious injuries at his home in London last May.
It has come to light that Mosley had been diagnosed with lymphoma in 2019 and he was receiving treatment at the time of his death.
In May last year, a note was found nailed to Mosley’s bedroom door. It said, “Do not enter, call the police”.
Police was immediately called for and Mosley was found on his bed with a “long double barrelled shotgun between his legs”.
Regarding the nature of the death, the coroner said, “It was obvious he had used the shotgun to himself and endured a life-ending injury. It’s clear he had injuries not compatible with life. There was significant blood spatter.”
Dr Rasha Al-Quarainy was tending to Mosley since his diagnosis.
Mosley’s condition was incurable: Doctor
“He was very talkative and engaging. We were there for about 45 minutes. He was very engaged and talked through quite a lot of things,” she said.
However, she calimed that Mosley never mentioned any suicidal thoughts to her.
“No, none at all. On the contrary, he said that he had plans to renovate their home in Gloucestershire that wasn’t going to be finished until July. He was still seeking treatment possibly in the US, possibly in the UK, and some other matters he spoke to me about.”
“The only thing of note was that he started on an antidepressant after our involvement with him, later in May, but I couldn’t comment on the indication for that or any of the aspects around that.”
Dr Christopher McNamara, who was also involved in treating Mosley, said that by the end, they were not seeking ways to cure the cancer. Rather, it was about improving the quality of Mosley’s life in his final days.
However, Mosley was still hopeful of finding a cure and went for some lesser-known techniques against the advice of Dr McNamara.
As a result, Mosley had developed a “fistula”, which can roughly be defined as an opening between areas of the body that are not usually connected.
“He emailed me on 22 May 2021, these were questions about the management of the condition. He had accepted this would not be cured. He was extremely upset as his quality of life was poor and left him uncomfortable,” Dr McNamara said.
“He had expressed ideas of committing suicide to myself and other members of the team previously. He never expressed a plan of doing this and all he said was that the problem was his wife would not accept this.”
No signs of forced entry: Detective
The detective in-charge of the case, Ben Benlounes, explained his opinion in front of the court.
“On the chest of drawers there was a suicide note covered in blood, but I could read ‘I feel I have no choice’,” he said.
“I understand by the evidence given from Dr McNamara that Max was informed over the weekend that he had weeks to live.
“It was quite clear, learning from Dr McNamra that he had a very limited life expectancy coupled with suffering very debilitating symptoms from his cancer that Mr Mosley reached a settled intent to end his own life.
“He has taken a shot gun from a locked cabinet at his own home for which he had a licence. He took a shotgun and loaded it with cartridges, placed it in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
“He suffered devastating injuries that would have killed him instantly and the misery and pain he suffered from his terminal cancer was over.”
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