Beloved radio personality and sick wife found dead in hotel room after apparent suicide pact

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 18:37 EST, 6 January 2012

Radio personality Bill Heywood was found dead in a hotel room on Wednesday morning after apparently committing suicide in a joint pact with his wife.

The famous Phoenix radio DJ and his wife Susan - who had been married for 35 years - were found by a housekeeper with gunshot wounds to their head and two handguns by their side.

A suicide note was left on the door of their bedroom at Homewood Suites and when police later checked their condo, they found the couple had written out specific arrangements for their funeral and estate.

Love til the end: Radio personality Bill Heywood and his wife Susan are believed to have killed themselves in a joint suicide pact

Susan Heywood, 70, had been suffering from a heart condition for some time and was said to be losing her battle with the undisclosed disease.

Friends say the pair were inseparable in life and Bill, 75, knew he couldn't live without his wife of 35 years.

The couple were also known to be in financial difficulty after they filed for bankrupcy in August 2009. They lost their home two years ago to foreclosure and they were forced to move into a condo.

Scene: The couple booked into Homewood Suites in Phoenix where they died in an apparent suicide pact on Tuesday night

Famous: Bill had an illustrious radio career dating back to the sixties

According to Arizona Central, the couple took methodical steps to end their lives.

Scottsdale police said they  wrote down funeral arrangements and left instructions for family and friends at their home in northeast Phoenix.

Police believe they sat on the bed together and pulled the trigger, though they are not sure whether it was one or both, but two handguns were recovered at the scene.

The note on the door warned there were two suicides in the bedroom.

They have an adult daughter Nicole.

Sgt Mark Clark said police are calling the case a death investigation until the medical examiner returns with a preliminary report, which is expected in the next few days.

But he said: 'It's pretty clear something was planned.'

The couple met in the 1970s when Susan was an account executive at an advertising agency. She hired Bill to do Circle K commercials.

Romance blossomed immediately and they were married on Valentine's Day in 1977.

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Heywood's radio career was already booming and continued going from strength to strength.

He was the popular host of shows on KTAR for several decades. His career was distinguished in radio and he had been named the number one radio personality for three different years by Billboard magazine.

He spent 15 years of his radio career with KOY-AM and the defunct KOY-FM.

Devoted wife: Susan Heywood, left, was an advertising and marketing exec when she met and fell in love with Bill in the seventies

Shock: When they died Susan was in ill health and the couple were having financial difficulties, but no one could have expected what happened

Susan had helped promote her husband's brand and recently, she was  active in aiding homeless pets.

The couple were one of the most well-known and well-loved in the community, which has been left shocked by their apparent suicide.

'He was almost like a lost little boy without Susan. He really needed her. She was part of his strength. This was a couple that just really belonged together'

Heidi Foglesong, who worked with Bill on the morning show on KFYI-AM (550) from 2001 to 2003, said: 'I would say Bill was one of the classiest men I've worked with in radio.

'I came from television and didn't know much about radio, and I got to work with this person who, in his heyday, was iconic.

'He was phenomenal, top-shelf talent and really taught me a lot about radio. He left his mark.'

Friend and former radio personality Preston Westmoreland told Arizona Central how close the couple were.

'He was almost like a lost little boy without her. He had this sullen look on his face because he wasn't with Susan.

'He really needed her. She was part of his strength. This was a couple that just really belonged together.'
 

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