I'll start.

Bought my SLC from this guy:

(When I bought from him 15 years ago, he needed to sell because he was making room in his (1 car) garage for his wife's minivan.
I guess his circumstances later changed a bit....
When arrested, he was living in a mansion rented from Donald Trump.)


Fund Figure Disappears on Date Set for Prison
By ABHA BHATTARAI Published: June 11, 2008
A little more than an hour before a former hedge fund manager was to report to federal prison on Monday, his sport utility vehicle was found abandoned on a bridge over the Hudson River with the phrase “Suicide Is Painless” written in dust on its hood.

Samuel Israel III, a founder of the Bayou Group, arrived at federal court in New York in April for sentencing in a fraud case.
But the authorities said they had not yet determined whether he committed suicide. No body has been found.

The 2006 GMC Envoy was registered to Samuel Israel III, 48, co-founder of the Bayou Group, a Connecticut-based hedge fund. He had been sentenced in April to 20 years in prison for his role in a scheme to cheat investors out of $450 million and was scheduled to report to federal prison in Ayer, Mass., by 2 p.m. Monday.

Bruce Cuccia, an investigator for the New York State Police, said that no one had reported seeing anybody leave the vehicle or jump off the Bear Mountain Bridge, about 40 miles north of New York City.

The police found Mr. Israel’s burgundy sport utility vehicle on the shoulder of the two-lane road at 12:30 p.m., “a couple of moments” after it had been parked, Mr. Cuccia said. The engine was off but the keys were in the ignition. “Suicide Is Painless,” the title of the theme song for the television show “M*A*S*H,” was written in the dust on the vehicle’s hood.

The vehicle’s E-ZPass had been used at a tollbooth about 300 yards west of where it was parked, Mr. Cuccia said.

There are many video cameras along the bridge, but Tim Miller, a state police investigator who has viewed video footage of the area, called it inconclusive.

According to Mr. Miller, Mr. Israel’s girlfriend, Debbie Ryan, told the police that Mr. Israel had left their home in Armonk, N.Y., about 9:30 a.m. on Monday, saying he was going to report to prison. She told the police that she had not heard from him since.

Calls to Lawrence S. Bader, Mr. Israel’s lawyer, were not immediately returned. Ms. Ryan could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Israel pleaded guilty in September 2005 to charges of conspiracy and fraud after squandering millions of dollars and producing fake audits of the hedge fund’s performance to hide losses. At Mr. Israel’s sentencing in April, Judge Colleen McMahon of Federal District Court in Manhattan also ordered Mr. Israel to pay $300 million in restitution, adding that “people who commit crimes while wearing a tie do not get a break.”

There have been more than 40 suicide deaths from the bridge over the last 30 years, Mr. Cuccia said, adding that all but one body had been found. "The river will give him up,” he said.

But not everybody is convinced that Mr. Israel committed suicide.

“I’ll believe it when I see a body,” said Ross B. Intelisano, a lawyer at Rich & Intelisano, a law firm in New York. The firm is representing 20 investors who lost about $25 million in the collapse of Bayou, which was based in Stamford, Conn. “All of the clients I spoke to, their initial reaction was that it’s a ruse. It’s just another fraudulent act.”

The police are still searching for a body in the Hudson River. United States marshals, the F.B.I. and the United States attorney’s office are also involved in the investigation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/business/11bayou.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Look for him in Israel or Switzerland, not in the Hudson.

I doubt he would kill himself and if he would, why write that tripe on his car hood... I am betting on a faked death.

An aside...
The Bear Moutain Bridge is very pretty (looks like the Golden Gate) The area of the Hudson is gorgeous as well rolling hills and trees.

__________________
"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

What else would a M*A*S*H fan do?

The only thing I know about the previous owner of my car was that he ran an auto a/c shop, and he sold a car to me that leaked refrigerant.

__________________
1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

Did he think that the FBI wouldn't know that the song on MASH was background to a faked suicide????

Despite his name, doubt Israel - one of the stories when he was requesting parole was that he had reconnected with his Christian faith.

Indeed one of the nicest spots around here.

He travelled 1/2 hour to fake his suicide 10 minutes from me.

Prior owner of my 560SEC was the man who owned the Beverly Hills Hotel.

He told me that he got rid of the car because his 27 year old wife thought the car was "too flashy for Beverly Hills!!!"

He bought her a BMW...

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I bet he had just filled up his gas tank and THAT'S why he killed himself . . . .

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

It's great to own a car that "has a story."

I'm the 3rd owner of a 190E 2.3-16. The original owner was a US woman that went to Germany to purchase a sport sedan with a manual transmission and to tour Europe with her husband. She passed on BMW and purchased the Mercedes in Hanover, drove around Europe and then dropped the car off in Calais to be shipped to the East Coast.

The car was "federalized" and eventually made it's way with the owner to Nevada. There, the car was transferred to the owner's sister, who drove it around the Lake Tahoe area before moving to Lahaina, Maui.

After a few years of driving on Maui, the car was parked in the garage next to the house and then took a nap for about three years.

A Craigslist ad caught my eye last year and then a series of trips between Honolulu and Kahalui to arrange shipping resulted in the 1985 grey market 16 valve ending up in my hands . . . the first male owner.

Five years ago, I bought my 1989 420SEL from a little old lady I knew, her husband died, an old retired doctor. She said the car was too big for her. This car had been garaged all it's life and they had barely driven it since new. There was only 38,000 miles on it! The carpeting and leather was like new! The trunk still had some of the "new car" protective plastic inside it. The paint is perfect! The best part...? The price!! She told me, since I was a neighbor that she wouldn't take over $5000.00 for it! SOLD!!!

This car sold new for $63,000.00! ABS, Twin SRS airbags, every Mercedes option available for that car in 1989! What a deal!

Mr. Isreal is on the beach drinking Mohitos with the guy from "Office Space."

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

It's so hard to get fresh Mint in the Banana Republics

__________________
BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

He ans Milton are lounging on the beach drinking mohitos . . . That's where I'd like to be right now.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Hey al76slc, the dude has been found:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/02/useconomy.usa

__________________
Tomas, Sweden
1966 Mercedes Benz 230S with OM617.912, automatic. Disk brakes from W108
1983 Mercedes Benz 300TD grey, OM617.912 and 5-speed manual
1983 Mercedes Benz 300TD blue 7-seater, OM617.912 and 5-speed manual