Faked death
A faked death, also called a pseudocide, is a case in which an individual leaves evidence to suggest that they are dead to mislead others. This is done for a variety of reasons, such as to fraudulently collect insurance money or to avoid capture by law enforcement for some other crime.
People who fake their own deaths sometimes do so by pretend drownings, because it provides a plausible reason for the absence of a body. According to one theory, sometimes credited to an unnamed study, as many as one quarter of suicides from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge in which no body was found could have been faked.
There are several how-to books on the subject of faking one's death, including How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found.
Notable faked deaths
KMFDM
KMFDM (from Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit [sic], translated by the band as "no pity for the majority" [sic]) is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project. KMFDM has released nineteen studio albums and two dozen singles, with sales of more than two million records worldwide.
The band has undergone many line-up changes and featured dozens of guest musicians. Its earliest incarnation included German drummer En Esch and British vocalist Raymond Watts, the latter of whom left and rejoined the group several times over its history. German guitarist Günter Schulz joined in 1990; both he and Esch continued with the band until KMFDM broke up in 1999. Konietzko resurrected KMFDM in 2002 (Esch and Schulz declined to rejoin), and by 2005 he had assembled a consistent line-up that included American singer Lucia Cifarelli, British guitarists Jules Hodgson and Steve White, and British drummer Andy Selway.
Critics consider KMFDM to be one of the first bands to bring industrial music to mainstream audiences, though Konietzko refers to the band's music as "The Ultra-Heavy Beat". The band incorporates heavy metal guitar riffs, electronic music, samples, and both male and female vocals in its music, which encompasses a variety of styles. KMFDM normally tours at least once after every major release, and band members are known for their accessibility to and interaction with fans, both online and at concerts. Members, singly or working with each other and others, have recorded under many other names, primarily Watts' Pig in 1988, Konietzko's Excessive Force in 1991, and Esch and Schulz's Slick Idiot in 2001.
Podcasts:
