20 Historical Figures Who Faked Their Own Deaths

Jeanne of Leeds was a 14th-century English nun who was so eager to leave monastic life that she went so far as to fake her own death. According to the archives of the Archbishop of York, she fashioned—or had fashioned—a fake body that was treated as if it were her own, and then left St. Clement’s House near York. The deception did not remain a secret forever, as church authorities later reported that she had fled to Beverley. Her story is one of the earliest documented examples of someone faking their own death to escape a life they did not want.

Grace Oakeshott was a British women’s rights activist who disappeared in 1907 while in Brittany. Her clothes were found on a beach, leading people to believe she had drowned, but she had actually left for New Zealand with her lover, Walter Reeve. There, she lived under the name Joan Reeve and built a whole new life for herself, far from the marriage and public identity she had left behind. Her story speaks volumes about how difficult it was for women to leave an unhappy marriage at that time.

Violet Charlesworth was at the center of a sensational Edwardian scandal after a 1909 car accident near the north coast of Wales allegedly caused her to fall into the sea. No body was ever found, and the story quickly began to unravel as investigators took a closer look at her finances and travels. Charlesworth had been posing as a wealthy heiress, but in reality she was mired in debt and lies. Once she was found alive, her staged death turned out to be part of a larger fraud case that captivated the press.

Clement John “Jack” De Garis was an Australian entrepreneur and aviator whose life fell apart under the weight of severe financial difficulties. In 1925, he left behind farewell letters and led people to believe he had drowned in Port Phillip Bay. A week later, he was found aboard a ship bound for New Zealand, bringing an end to the nationwide search that had been underway since his disappearance. This fake suicide tarnished his already compromised reputation, and he did take his own life the following year.

Aleister Crowley, an English occultist and writer, staged a fake suicide in Portugal in 1930. The incident took place near the cliffs of Boca do Inferno and involved the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, who found himself caught up in the media frenzy sparked by Crowley’s supposed death. Crowley later reappeared in Berlin, proving that his spectacular disappearance had been nothing more than a hoax. For someone who spent much of his life seeking attention and controversy, this stunt fit his public image perfectly.

In 1930, Alfred Rouse turned a scheme to fake his own death into a murder case. He set his own car on fire with another man inside, hoping the charred body would be mistaken for his own. Investigators identified the vehicle and eventually linked Rouse to the crime, which became known as the “burning car murder.” He was convicted and executed in 1931, while the identity of his victim remains unknown.

Aleksandr Uspensky was a high-ranking Soviet security official who attempted to escape Stalin’s Great Purge by staging his own suicide in 1938. He disappeared after being summoned to Moscow, where he had reason to believe he would be arrested. His plan bought him some time, but the Soviet authorities eventually tracked him down and arrested him in 1939. He was executed in 1940, making his fake death merely a reprieve in a dangerous political system.

Ferdinand Waldo Demara, later nicknamed “The Great Imposter,” spent much of his life impersonating other people. During World War II, he reportedly staged his own suicide after running into problems with forged documents, before resurfacing under a new name. Among his other disguises were those of a monk, a teacher, a prison guard, and—most famously—a naval surgeon during the Korean War, where he successfully performed some 16 operations. Demara’s fake death was just one episode among many in a much longer life built around reinventing himself.

Timothy Dexter, an eccentric American businessman who officially died in 1806, staged a fake funeral because he wanted to see how people would react to his death. He reportedly observed the mourners (about 3,000 people) from a hidden location and paid particular attention to the behavior of his family and neighbors. Noticing that his wife was not as distraught as he had imagined, he reportedly revealed himself during the ceremony and punished her after the mock wake.

Juan Pujol García, the Spanish double agent known as Garbo, helped deceive Nazi Germany during World War II. After the war, fearing reprisals from surviving Nazis, he staged his own death with the help of the British, claiming to have died of malaria in Angola in 1949. He then settled in Venezuela, where he lived for decades while building a new identity for himself. When he was rediscovered in the 1980s, it turned out that one of the war’s greatest deceivers had pulled off yet another ruse.

Ken Kesey, the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, staged his own suicide in 1966 while facing drug-related charges. Friends helped him make it look as though he had died by leaving his truck and a suicide note near a cliffside road in California. In reality, Kesey had fled to Mexico, where he remained until he eventually returned to the United States. This maneuver did not allow him to evade justice indefinitely, as he subsequently served a prison sentence.

John Allen, born Anthony John Angel, faked his own death in the 1960s to escape legal proceedings related to previous crimes. He staged the scene near Beachy Head by leaving clothes and a suicide note at the site, making it appear as though he had drowned. After assuming a new identity, he continued his life of crime and later became involved in an even more sordid case. Decades later, he was convicted of the murder of his wife and two children, whose bodies were never found.

Raymond Grady Stansel Jr. was an American fugitive who disappeared in 1974 while facing serious charges. His lawyer claimed that he had drowned in a diving accident near Honduras, but his body was never found. Stansel had in fact fled and subsequently lived in Australia under the name Dennis “Lee” Lafferty, where many knew him as a tour operator and an environmental activist. His true identity was not revealed until after his death in a car accident in 2015.

John Stonehouse was a British politician who staged his own death in 1974 by leaving clothes on a beach in Miami. The ruse was meant to make it appear as though he had drowned, but he had actually flown to Australia under a false identity. His plan failed when Australian police arrested him, initially wondering if he might be Lord Lucan, who had gone missing. Stonehouse was sent back to Britain, found guilty of fraud, and sentenced to prison.

Peter Florjančič was a Slovenian inventor who faked his own death during World War II to avoid being drafted into the German army. In 1943, he staged his own death in an avalanche while on a skiing trip in Austria and fled across the border to neutral Switzerland. This maneuver allowed him to avoid service on the Eastern Front, which could easily have meant a death sentence. After the war, he became known for his inventions and lived for decades after the death he had faked; he passed away only recently, in November 2020.

Alan Abel was a professional prankster; so it was almost inevitable that he would eventually stage his own death. In 1980, false reports claimed that he had died of a heart attack near a ski resort in Utah, and The New York Times published an obituary. The next day, Abel held a press conference and revealed that the obituary was part of yet another prank. Unlike many of the people on this list, he wasn’t trying to avoid prison or his debts, but simply wanted to show how easily the media could be fooled.

David Friedland, a former New Jersey state senator, disappeared in 1985 while awaiting trial on corruption charges. According to the official account, he disappeared while scuba diving in the Bahamas, but investigators suspected he had staged the incident. Friedland traveled under false identities and eventually resurfaced in the Maldives, where he worked in the diving industry. He was arrested in 1987 and extradited to the United States to face charges.

Audrey Marie Hilley, an American fugitive, lived under false names after fleeing Alabama. Under the identity of Robbi Hannon, she faked her own death before reappearing as Teri Martin, Robbi’s alleged twin sister. This scheme was strange enough to arouse suspicion, and the police eventually discovered that Teri was none other than Hilley. Her fake death was part of a broader pattern of aliases, manipulation, and evading justice.

In 1993, Russell Causley faked his own death by disappearing from a ferry near Guernsey as part of an insurance scam. This fraud case was later linked to the disappearance of his wife, Carole Packman, who had vanished in 1985. Causley was convicted of her murder, although her body was never found. His faked death not only exposed an insurance fraud; it also helped draw attention once again to a far more serious crime.

Austrian pianist Friedrich Gulda staged his own death in 1999 as part of a media stunt. Rumors of his death had been circulating before he reappeared at what was billed as a “resurrection” concert. Some people found the stunt amusing, while others considered it in poor taste, particularly because it played on the public’s grief and the media’s trust. Gulda officially passed away in 2000, making this episode involving the fake obituary a strange final chapter in his public life.