Monteleone

SLIPPERY ROCK — A landlord who took his own life last weekend said “government bullying” led him to take that action.

Frank Monteleone mailed copies of two letters to the Butler Eagle before his death on Nov. 16. One letter was to his girlfriend, Bonnie Davis, and one was to his lawyer, Tim Silbaugh. Both letters said that troubles with the borough led to his suicide.

“This is totally about government bullying,” Monteleone wrote.

Issues that he specifically mentioned were that the borough moved bulk trash pickup from May, about the time Slippery Rock University has its spring graduation, to March, and that the borough had an inadequate response to his concerns about ambulance response times to emergency calls.

His also mentions an issue related to him being fined for parking his truck on grass. Davis said that the truck was parked on gravel.

State police Cpl. Dan Herr said that copies of the same notes were not found at the scene of his death, but said they were recovered elsewhere. He declined to say where.

Monteleone also included a copy of an advertisement he had published in the Butler Eagle in June, alleging bias against him by borough officials.

That advertisement listed a number of issues and situations, including being pulled over by borough police while he was running for mayor in 2009 and the borough “coming after” him for zoning and code violations.

Monteleone was a semiregular attendee of council meetings, and consistently came since May. However, he had not gone to council meetings for the past several weeks.

Davis said he quit going because he felt that his relationship with council was too much of a distraction to be able to accomplish anything.

“He said: ‘Bonnie, maybe if I quit going, it will change things,’” Davis said.

She said although his father was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Monteleone never was diagnosed with or treated for any kind of psychiatric condition.

Davis also said that there was no behavioral change or indication that Monteleone would take his own life. Davis noted that he made reservations the day before his death to go away for a weekend.

She feels, just like Monteleone said in his letters, that his death had to do with “government bullying.”

Davis said that Monteleone was involved in the community, and would fight for his principles even if that led to inconveniences for him.

“He wanted the best there was for Slippery Rock,” Davis said.

In a statement, the borough said that people who commit suicide do not do it because of issues such as garbage pickup or ambulance service.

“The death of Mr. Monteleone is tragic, but there is absolutely no rational basis to believe his death was caused by anything the borough did or did not do,” statement said.

Officers found Monteleone’s body with a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the borough building on East Water Street minutes after he made a call to 911 about 5:30 p.m.

Herr said that investigators are finishing up a few details on the case.

“The investigation is all but closed,” Herr said.