US car dealer dies torching own vehicles
March 11, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Following the closure of his dealership a week earlier, Pennsylvania car dealer Gregory Graham died of a heart attack while torching new vehicles that remained on his lot.
Graham set to task by smashing windows on 12 new cars, placing rolled newspaper and petrol on the front passenger seat, then went car-to-car striking a match. Four flaming cars drew firefighters to the dealership. Graham’s body was discovered on the ground beside the fourth vehicle.
It was concluded that Graham, 61, died of a heart attack while he was burning the vehicles at his dealership in Ligonier, about 65km southeast of Pittsburgh.
Graham was a third-generation dealer selling Buick, Pontiac and Jeep vehicles. His grandfather, Albert, started Graham Colonial Motors in the 1920s. Graham’s father, Charles, later took over.
The dealership owed more than US$420,000 in 2008 federal tax liens and more than Us$11,000 in county property-tax liens, according to court records.
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Yeah read this yesterday,very sad .
I bet the anxiety built up from years in the industry was topped up by the closure of his family business and caused the heart attack. Very sad indeed.
just thinking like a crim for a minute,i wonder why he didn’t employ someone else to torch the cars.no sense going to goal without having a good alibi…
The weight of failure being the 3rd generation watching his dealership fold would had been quite intense.
Human nature shows it’s vulnerabilities when financial strain occurs, many more scenarios ahead during the global meltdown.
I feel for some people.
Poor guy. Actually, poor people affected by this ‘crisis’. Hopefully it will get back on track soon for everyone’s sake.
Those greedy banks and short term focused execs…. in the US have cuased this crisis and the common folk are sufferring. Pook guy
I feel sorry for him, sad way to sign off..
I seem to remember it was the cost of oil that kicked off American car industy woes. Would he have had to close anyway selling those yank tanks that knowone wants?
“Those greedy banks and short term focused execs…. in the US have cuased this crisis and the common folk are sufferring. Pook guy”
It’s the common folk who are at fault, not the banks (although some blame can be directed at them also for not being careful who they lend to). If you can’t afford to buy something, then you don’t buy it. Simple. Yet plenty did and coudln’t afford to pay it off. Hence now we got this crisis.
The guy was obviously a bad businessman.
After being in the game for all his life, the dealership was financially destitute with huge loans, all either accumulated throughout the recent boom times, or not reduced during the recent boom times.
The act of torching cars which were not owned by him was a criminal act, which would have seen him in jail for a good few years if he hadn’t croaked.
No sympathy from me, I’m afraid.
Dan,
Agree that some of the financial burden was derived from too much spending, who allows people to borrow when they clearly can’t pat back? Banks…
Reckless1,
Not sure if you’re aware that the US new vehicle market is down by at least 50%, ALL US new car dealerships are feeling the pain of failure or huge debt.
The meltdown of the US financial system happened quickly and is one of the most severe in history.
The banking/finace system triggered the mess to begin with.
The poor bloke breaks my heart
Adam – “Agree that some of the financial burden was derived from too much spending, who allows people to borrow when they clearly can’t pat back? Banks…”
See, the problem with society nowadays is that people will not take responsibility for their own actions. Perhaps they didn’t manage their money as well as they should? I may have capacity to borrow X amount of dollars and can afford the repayments. But if I waste that money on other stuff, that will make me unable to be paying off the loan. Is it the bank’s fault, or mine?
Adam, I am aware that the market is down NOW. Der….
But we have come off 10 years of BOOM, during which time this man failed to keep any hay in his barn, so that when the BUST came he went BUST.
As I said, a poor business man and finished with a criminal act.
Perhaps individuals should be responsible for their own actions but if Lending institutions had been more responsible in relation to their lending practices then the World would not be in the mess it is currently in.
How about all the banks across the world that bought into this bad dept.
If Greenspan and his Elk actually had a handle on the situation they would have regulated to prevent this downward spirial in the first place even before the risk was onsold across the globe.
Just goes to show that the people that are suppose to be in the “know” are making it up as they go along like just like everybody else.LOL.
No doubt they should have been more responsible, however equally they cannot be tough to obtain finance either, as that makes things difficult and slows growth. It’s more difficult to obtain finance now as a result of the subprime mortgages, which magnifies the whole problem, with companies going bust simply because they can’t obtain financing where they otherwise would have been able to. Some fine balance needs to be reached haha.
Greed is on both sides of the problem I think. Banks wanted to make money money money. Poor people who used the subprime finance wanted everything now now now. And there’s your problem.
Just like the fate of GM, how ironic.
I just hope some sort of sanity will prevail in the US.
I feel sorry for the guy’s family.
Unfortunately this is becoming all to frequent, especially in the US!
He had a firesale.
Bavarian Missile (.)(.) Says:
March 11th, 2009 at 10:08 am
“Yeah read this yesterday,very sad .”
How is it sad?? The guy was a criminal and also a terrible businessman.
None of us know the circumstances behind what really happened before hand.
I guess you are assuming what he did was calculated but what if the guy had a break down and went over the edge ,obviously having a heart attack at the time he was under stress .
Dan Says:
March 11th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Adam – “Agree that some of the financial burden was derived from too much spending, who allows people to borrow when they clearly can’t pat back? Banks…”
See, the problem with society nowadays is that people will not take responsibility for their own actions. Perhaps they didn’t manage their money as well as they should? I may have capacity to borrow X amount of dollars and can afford the repayments. But if I waste that money on other stuff, that will make me unable to be paying off the loan. Is it the bank’s fault, or mine?
I’m not saying we don’t take personal responsibility and Yes modern society is full of greed.
However, will you take the Goverments $900 handout? i think yes, are you greedy? I’m sure it will help you buy more or pay the current debt you have.
The ease in which a large part of the population had access to unsecured credit was simply rediculous.
Why are we having one of the worst recessions in history?
The general population need to be told ‘no’ more often than ‘yes’.
Lucky we have some the most regulated financial systems in the world otherwise we would be far worse off.
Reckless1 Says:
March 11th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Adam, I am aware that the market is down NOW. Der….
But we have come off 10 years of BOOM, during which time this man failed to keep any hay in his barn, so that when the BUST came he went BUST.
As I said, a poor business man and finished with a criminal act.
So please enlighten us all and tell us when the bust will end and the boom starts again?
Also when the price of crude oil will skyrocket again, just before the next global recession will happen again
Like it or not the current global recession, hit hard and hit faster than anybody, inclduing so called financial experts, expected.
Ask toyota how they managed to post a loss for the first time in 70 years, i guess they didn’t keep any money in the kitty either?
Have you also thought about the fact that GE pulled out of dealer floor plan financing, leaving many dealers out in the cold for a period of time.
If you loose 50% of any business, the chances of not recovering are very high.
Adam – “However, will you take the Goverments $900 handout? i think yes, are you greedy? I’m sure it will help you buy more or pay the current debt you have.”
Unfortunately I don’t qualify :( It sucks how only the lower income people get rewarded with benefits in this country, yet they’re not the ones paying the most tax! I could have a long rant but that’s going off on a tangent…
Adam – “Ask toyota how they managed to post a loss for the first time in 70 years, i guess they didn’t keep any money in the kitty either?”
Posting a loss and keeping money in the kitty are two different issues mate. Your cash at bank balance does not affect your profit or losses. It’s a balance sheet item, not profit and loss item. You can be the most profitable bsuiness in the world, with huge cash reserves. If one year you sell nothing, you make a loss, despite loads of money in the kitty :)
Dan,
Apparently you will get a goverment handout, just at a later date :)
I understand the loss/profit workings, why is it that even Toyota, considered the cash rich auto company of the world only year ago, is also asking for a goverment support?
I ask you how you would keep your company afloat is 50% of your sales vanishes? and we are talking about sales that will not recover for at least a year.
Adam,
It is not uncommmon practice for any company to grab a handout, if available. Working for some of the bigger and successful companies over the years, the govt often provides R&D grants, or special allowances for projects of certain nature. Companies are on the active look out for anything the govt may feel generous about, for which they may qualify. Huge sums of money is given to companies who satisfy certain conditions and so on. And to be honest, the projects which were subsidised by the government would have gone ahead without the govt assistance, as on its own, they were profitable. Now going back on topic, Toyota did not desperately need a handout. No where near, it’s on the other end of the spectrum apposite to where GM is sitting at the moment.
And no, the handout is only given to those earning under 100K a year.
I had heard the goverment will offer people earning over 100k a year a tax break next year.
Whats $900 to you if you earn over 100k anyhow? If you aren’t happy, earn less and pay less tax, it’s obvious it’s worth your while earning what you do and and getting taxed what you do…isn’t it?
I never said Toyota was in the same boat financially as GM, did i? no.
Ford is financially not as stable as Toyota yet is after no more in goverment handouts globally than Toyota…
No one can answer when the bust ends and boom begins again, i say again this dealers financial position is not all of his fault and to suggest so is rather ignorant to the full facts in play.
Again a 50% drop in sales is not significant to you?
Of course it is significant. If I had cash reserves it would help heaps. It will really depend on how well you’ve done in the past and whether you have enough of those reseves. You’d also be hoping it won’t last long otehrwise you’re in more trouble.
My point exactly…
This downturn was fast and its severe. Everyone is feeling the pain in some form.
LOL, I am not sure what your point is to be honest. That’s sort of stating the obvious. Never mind.
GETREAL Says: “Just like the fate of GM, how ironic.”
Hehehe, so True!!
Dan you are defending the undefendable.
Dan I guess if you lost your Job you could pay all your debts.
The bankers were paid multi million dollar salaries and bonus, to make sure this did not happen, if they had to take responsibility for their actions they would be in Prison. Many of them stole millions from there companies knowing they were insolvent and transferred assets to there spouses, family etc, to avoid their responsibilities.
Dan,
This is what you said originally…
Dan Says:
It’s the common folk who are at fault, not the banks (although some blame can be directed at them also for not being careful who they lend to). If you can’t afford to buy something, then you don’t buy it. Simple. Yet plenty did and coudln’t afford to pay it off. Hence now we got this crisis.
I disagree based on the circumstances, thats the point.
Runnaln – “Dan I guess if you lost your Job you could pay all your debts.”
You have to be an absolute moron to get to a stage where you have more debts than assets, and contiinue to trade. Actually, that’s illegal too. If I was to loose my job, in worst case scenario I should be able to sell my assets and pay out my debts.
Adam, how is that related to what you said about the drop in sales?? It’s because of the subprime crisis, that there is a drop in sales. Now I lost you. What’s you point?
I think that part of the problem is that with no-one buying, a lot of debt which was levered against positive equity is now against negative equity. On the GC, plenty of $3M plus houses are going for sub $2M, if they sell at all. What you could get for $2M in 2007 is now $1.1 – $1.4M maybe. If you owed 60% on one of these 2 years ago, you might owe over $100% now, just through the drop in value, and have barely any market (coz the high fliers copped it in the tail when the sharemarket dropped) with tougher finance criteria, and the risk of losing your job or business, then the usual marriage bust-up (likelihood increases significantly with financial pressure) etc etc. It’s a wonder we havent seen more things like this poor sod.
Dan,
So this dealer is going out of business due to the arse falling out of the new vehicle sales, 50%.
You’re implying that his dealership business was operated poorly hence him not being able to trade through this severe recession.
We all know why the 50% drop in sales has occured, the point is some businesses won’t pull through to the other side, heck GM is on the verge of collapse, any wonder why this GM dealer was on his kness?
There is nothing implied in my post Adam. I was merely replying to Runnaln’s question. None of us know exactly what the situation was with the dealer, so there is no point speculating yay or nay.