Deceased
Frederick Russell Morgan
Demographics
48y, male
Date of death
1971-07-15
Finding date
2014-08-13
Cause of death
Unknown causes (presumed suicide by drowning)
AI-generated summary
Frederick Russell Morgan, a 48-year-old stockbroker, disappeared on 15 July 1971 from Mt Martha beach. He had experienced severe depression triggered by business financial crises, tax assessment concerns, and his father's death. Despite seeing his psychotherapist Dr R. on 15 July 1971—when Mr Morgan disclosed suicidal preoccupation for ten days—he was not admitted to hospital or given immediate intensive psychiatric care. Dr R. believed the danger had passed after their consultation, but Mr Morgan's condition deteriorated that same day. He left home and was never found. The coroner found he likely died by suicide. Clinically, this case highlights the risks of outpatient management of acute suicidal ideation without hospitalisation, the importance of recognising warning signs in high-stress individuals, and the potential inadequacy of medication adjustment alone in acutely suicidal patients.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
44y · Female·Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy complicating cardiac arrest in the setting of p…
Elizabeth Ferris, a 44-year-old woman with schizoaffective disorder and polysubstance use disorder, died from hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy following cardiac arrest in the setting of presumed drug toxicity. She was fo…
40y · Male·Unascertained
Nathan James Taylor, aged 40, died in Port Lincoln Prison on 24 March 2022 while in custody pending trial on witness interference charges. He had significant medical history including infective endocarditis with tricuspi…
36y · Male·Drowning
Gary Dale Sargeant, a 36-year-old Royal Australian Air Force member, died by drowning after absconding from Edinburgh Health Centre during an acute mental health crisis. Critical clinical failures included: a clinical ps…
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —