Bevan Alfred Malcolm took his own life on September 8th, 1980. He was found dead in his blue Bedford van in the garage at their family home. In the pocket of his pyjamas was a farewell note. He died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Exclusive Brethren held a funeral for Bevan, which was attended by most of the ‘heavies’ of the day – Don Scarlett, Frank Rich etc. Sarah Malcolm was quiet during the funeral meeting as she was sedated. The Exclusive Brethren arranged for reinforcements at the graveside and the extra numbers formed a large circle around the grave to keep the ‘Outs’ from getting too close. Phil Hickmott, the ex-member who had tried to help Bevan, was present with his wife and he was heard to state loudly at one stage: “you poor deluded Brethren!”.

Sarah Malcolm and the children were well taken care of by the Exclusive Brethren. The mortgage was paid off, a new car purchased and full relocation costs back to Nelson were paid. Bevan Malcolm’s brother sold the business and tidied up any unfinished matters. Sarah and the children were treated like heroes and were elevated to the status of local royalty, wanting for nothing. They are all still in the Exclusive Brethren and have all married with the exception of one son, who continues to live with Sarah.

Exclusive Brethren members packed the subsequent coroner’s inquest. The Exclusive Brethren tried to discredit Bevan’s diary which was produced at the inquest. They said his personal diary was "irrelevant to his death". They also claimed that he did not write the diary "as his name was spelt in several places as ‘Beven’" rather than Bevan (with an ‘a’). With typical Exclusive Brethren disregard for truth, they obliquely inferred that an ‘Out’ had written the diary!