According to an NY Post report, fearing a federal investigation into tax evasion on millions of dollars, founder and CEO of Golden Krust, Lowell Hawthorne, killed himself with a bullet to the head on Saturday at his company’s Bronx factory.
Surveillance cameras inside his office recorded Hawthorne shooting himself in the head.
Prior to the incident, two workers were seen inside having a conversation with the deceased inside the office, and then going in again after the incident, but both were crouched. It’s unclear whether they witnessed the suicide, but a source said one of them made a call to 911.
Hawthorne was a Jamaican immigrant who made his mark on the food industry with his famous beef patties, which are sold at over 20,000 US supermarkets and 120 company outlets across the country. Golden Krust is also a supplier to the US military, the state penal system and city school system.
The suicide has come as a shock to those who knew Hawthorne. One of his friends of 30 years, Al Alston, said: “He was always an upbeat guy.”
Hawthorne is survived by his widow Lorna, three sons, a daughter and a recently-born granddaughter.
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