Tom Schweich

However, after a thorough investigation, police found no evidence of a whisper campaign against Schweich. Instead, after interviews with family, it was revealed that Schweich had threatened suicide several times over many years, sometimes while holding a gun. Also, officers found 23 different prescription medications at Schweich’s house he had been taking for various illnesses and diseases.

Following Schweich's death, Governor Jay Nixon appointed John Watson as Acting State Auditor, and subsequently appointed Boone County Treasurer Nicole Galloway to serve as State Auditor until the 2018 election.

In the 2010 election, Schweich was elected State Auditor, defeating Democratic incumbent Susan Montee. He was reelected in 2014 without opposition. In 2015, Schweich announced he would run for Governor of Missouri in the 2016 election. On February 26, 2015, he died as a result of injuries sustained from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

On January 28, 2015, Schweich announced he would run for Governor of Missouri, setting the stage for a Republican primary with former Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway.

On February 26, 2015, Schweich was taken from his home to a St. Louis hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound, later ruled to be self-inflicted. His office soon confirmed that he had died. Governor Jay Nixon decreed that flags would be flown at half-staff in his memory.

In early March 2015, an aide to former U.S. Senator Danforth, Martha Fitz, told a reporter with the Kansas City Star that she had spoken with Schweich by phone only minutes before the auditor's suicide, and that he expressed to her frustration and outrage over what he described as a "whisper campaign" by some Republicans to spread false information about him and damage his gubernatorial campaign. Fitz was talking with Schweich's wife, who had initiated the call, when the fatal shot was fired.

During Schweich's eulogy at a memorial service on March 3, 2015, former U.S. Senator John Danforth said that words used by others to describe Schweich constituted "bullying" and contributed to his death. "Politics", he lamented, "has gone so hideously wrong."

On March 29, 2015, Robert "Spence" Jackson, 44, the spokesman for the Missouri State Auditor's office since October 2011, was found dead at his home in Jefferson City of a gunshot wound, an apparent suicide. Jackson's note read only "I'm so sorry. I just can't take being unemployed again". Police spokesman Doug Shoemaker said investigators wouldn't speculate concerning any connection to Schweich's death "or really entertain questions that might link Mr. Jackson to any type of political issue, whether it's perceived or real".

Schweich made history in the 2014 election when the Democratic party failed to field a candidate against him. The race marks the first time in 144 years that a Republican has run for a Missouri statewide office without any Democratic opposition. Democrats attributed Schweich's implementation of an anti-embezzlement program, rapid response team, and grading system, strong fundraising numbers, and broad bipartisan support of his audits as reasons why he did not draw Democratic opposition for re-election. In the general election, he was re-elected with 73% of the vote to Libertarian Sean O'Toole's 20% and Constitution nominee Rodney Farthing's 7%.

In 2010, Schweich sought and won the Republican nomination for Missouri State Auditor, defeating Missouri State Representative Allen Icet with 58.6% of the vote.

In the general election, he faced incumbent and Democratic nominee Susan Montee. Schweich defeated Montee on November 2, 2010, with a 51% to 45% margin of victory.

In 2005, Schweich became the second-highest ranking and then highest-ranking international law enforcement official in the U.S. State Department as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Acting Assistant Secretary of State at the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. He directed four thousand people located in dozens of countries with a budget of more than 2.5 billion dollars. He was subsequently appointed Coordinator for Counternarcotics and Justice Reform in Afghanistan and was accorded the rank of Ambassador by President George W. Bush.

Schweich began his public service career in 1999, when he was named Chief of Staff for former U.S. Senator John Danforth's investigation of the federal government's actions in connection with the 1993 FBI siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas; a siege which resulted in the deaths of over 80 people, including 23 children. The investigation concluded that the Davidians died as a result of a suicide pact, but it also uncovered numerous instances of negligent conduct in the way that the federal government conducted the siege.

Thomas A. Schweich (October 2, 1960 – February 26, 2015) was an American politician, diplomat, attorney, and author. A member of the Republican Party, Schweich served as State Auditor of Missouri.