.jpg)
1st in a series: The sound of a gunshot coming from inside a residence in Daytona's Beachside where Biketoberfest had opened Oct. 18, was unmistakable to Diane Marie Hamilton, who had just stepped outside following an argument she had with husband Edward Gossett of Tampa Bay, a former pro wrestler known in the ring as Mike Graham. When she returned to the bedroom, she found his lifeless body on the bed face up with a bullet hole in his forehead. The handgun was on a pillow immediately to his left.
DAYTONA BEACH -- Former pro wrestler Mike Graham's suicide during the opening night of Biketoberfest here in Daytona Beach is even more tragic than initially reported for this reason: His wife, Diane Marie Hamilton, was leaving the residence where they were staying for the fall biker rally when she heard the gunshot, ran back inside and found her 61-year-old husband face up on the bed with a bullet wound in his forehead.
The handgun was near the left side of the body of the former grappler, whose real name outside the squared circle, was Edward Michael Gossett.
These details, contained in a report by the Daytona Beach Police Department, are being reported for the first time by Headline Surfer, the 24/7 Internet newspaper in nearby New Smyrna Beach that was among the first media outlets to report Graham's suicide on Oct. 18, a Thursday. Graham's suicide occurred on the opening night of the four-day weekend motorcycle rally that drew tens of thousands of bikers to the Daytona Beach area.
Here is a synopsis of what happened at as written by Daytona Beach cop Richard Jung in his incident report: "Upon arrival, (reporting party Diane Hamilton) deceased's wife was crying hysterically outside the residence. Myself and several officers immediately cleared the residence and found (victim Edward Gossett) lying face up on the bed with a gunshot wound to the forehead. A small revolver (Freedom .22 caliber, serial No. B30540) was lying on a pillow on the (the victim's) left side immediately by his head."
The Daytona cop said Hamilton told him she and Graham had been out on Main Street earlier in the evening, the epicenter of the biker rally, where he left her and returned to the residence they were staying at. When she returned to the residence they got into an argument and so she walked outside with the intention of returning to the biker rally with her friends.
That's when Hamilton, 11 years younger than her husband, heard the fateful horrific sound that would make her an instant widow.
That's when Hamilton, 11 years younger than her husband, heard the fateful horrific sound that would make her an instant widow.
While questioning Graham's wife, the officer learned a detail that makes his death even more tragic: "(The wife) stated she was heading back out to meet her friends and when she left her residence, that's when she heard the gunshot," the officer wrote in his report.
Headline Surfer photo by Henry Frederick / Biketoberfest, the four-day motorcycle rally with its epicenter on Main Street in Daytona Beach as shown here last weekend, was the event Tampa Bay resident and ex-pro wrestlrer Mike Graham killed himself at in a nearby home. His wife told Daytona cops her husband had been depressed over the suicide of his son at the same biker rally two years earlier.
9-1-1 dispatch received a call at 8:44 p.m. of a reported suicide from the residence at 145 N. Halifax Ave., No. 208. Cops arrived on scene 5 minutes later.
So why did Mike Graham kill himself? The incident report touches on this somewhat: "(Hamilton) stated (Graham) had threatened to commit suicide frequently ever since (his) committed suicide 2 year's prior during Biketoberfest."
Graham's deep-seated anguish was planted many years earlier when his wrestling promoter father, Eddie Graham shot and killed himself with a blast to the head in 1985.
Graham's deep-seated anguish was planted many years earlier when his wrestling promoter father, Eddie Graham shot and killed himself with a blast to the head in 1985.
Mike Graham's body was removed by a livery service at 11 p.m. and taken to the county morgue. The police report was completed 40 minutes later.
The Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office has conducted an autopsy with an initial ruling of death by suicide, but the official cause of death will not be known for several weeks until toxicology results are known, county spokesman Dave Byron said.
Funeral Arrangements
