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	Seattle Psychologist Suspected of Voyeurism Takes His Own Life By Claudia Rowe Seattle Post-Intelligencer July 26, 2007 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/325267_psychologist27.html Seattle (WA) — A career that spanned more than 25 years and brought Stuart Greenberg national renown as a forensic psychologist ended abruptly Wednesday when the Seattle therapist, recently under criminal investigation for voyeurism, committed suicide in a Renton motel. Investigators have yet to confirm reports that Greenberg, who left two notes, overdosed on pills — though friends and colleagues believe the true cause was shame. "There was nobody whose professional reputation was more important to them than Stu — it was everything to him," said Marsha Hedrick, a colleague. "So to have such stature in the field and then to lose that, it was horrifying to him." A clinical affiliate at the University of Washington, former consultant to the Seattle Archdiocese and past president of the American Board of Forensic Psychology, Greenberg, 59, had recently admitted to Seattle police that he surreptitiously videotaped several women using the restroom in his Montlake office. Afterward, he masturbated to the images, police say. "Stu was an incredibly intelligent man and a stellar contributor to the field of forensic psychology," Hedrick said. "But psychologists are not immune to neglecting their own demons, and Stu lost control of his, with tragic results. I'll miss him terribly." A spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office said a decision on whether to charge the therapist had been pending, and last week state regulators suspended his license. Several days before that, speaking in a shaken, weary voice, Greenberg called the UW psychology department to tender his resignation. "When he called and left that message, I felt such pain in his voice," department secretary Beth Rutherford said. "He apologized for any embarrassment he'd caused, and to know that his whole life and career ended like that, it's just so sad." On Monday, Greenberg checked into the Clarion Hotel in Renton for a two-day stay, according to desk manager Debbie Prakash, and early Wednesday morning he came down to return his key, informing the staff that he was preparing check out. " 'I'm gone. I'm done. I'm leaving' — those were his exact words," she said. Several hours later, when housekeepers attempted to clean his room, they found the door latched from the inside, but managed to push it open and through a crack spied a note that Greenberg had affixed to the closet door. Call my wife, it said. "We are overwhelmed by loss and with grief that we could not convince Stu life was worth living," the family said in a prepared statement. "Stu had great gifts and flaws, but to us he was a much loved husband, father, brother and son. We miss him terribly." Doug Mooney, a friend and attorney, said the therapist had penned one suicide note to his family and another for those hurt by his transgressions. "I wish I could offer you some adequate explanation," it said. "[But] I just don't know. I deeply and profoundly apologize." News of his crime, first reported early this month, had spread quickly over the Internet. The more word got out, friends said, the more he grew to understand the wider ramifications of his acts. Bloggers sniped that the entire field of forensic psychology — on which Greenberg had built his entire professional life — was nothing more than a haven for paid voyeurs. "What happened to him, what darkness in his life and circumstances drove him to the events that led to his suicide, I don't know," said David Nichols, a friend and colleague in Oregon. "I doubt that he did, either. "But I do know that the cause of his death was shame — the shame of a decent man whose video invasions of another's privacy were as puzzling, alien and offensive to him as they were known to be out of character by those who knew him to be a much better man." Contact: Claudia Rowe claudiarowe@seattlepi.com
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