We discovered details of Kevin Richard Brandon’s death just by searching the Internet one day. We found a single-page Blog entry by the daughter of one of Kevin’s friends. When we found the blog, read and listened to what was there, work had to stop for the day.

In the way only a few lines of words can convey, we can taste the heartache and loneliness of a man separated by the Exclusive Brethren from his wife and six children. To cope with his anguish, Kevin became a drug addict who used street drugs to self-medicate. A number of ex-Exclusive Brethren use alcohol – Kevin chose methamphetimine.

Kevin did not seemingly leave much behind, but in fact he left a great deal. He left his friend an iPod which contained a Play List called ‘Final Mix’. It is a suicide note of many dimensions. Merely the titles of the songs speak of how Kevin came to be in a place of desperation and his choice of final song will move you to tears.

It is a unique and almost unbearable opportunity to share a few minutes with a man who had lost all he truly loved. Access to his family was stolen by a cult and Kevin became yet another casualty of Exclusive Brethren teachings.

We are left with the image of Kevin, alone in his apartment on May 27th, 2006, listening to his Final Mix one final time …

Kevin’s Final Mix

Kevin Richard Brandon was a friend of my mother. He was 41 years old when he shot himself on May 27, 2006 in his home in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He was a kind man who shared his wealth with all around him (strangers included). After giving away all his belongings and company in the US, he ended up winning back over 200k in online gambling, which he used to move to Mexico in 2004. He was a methamphetimine addict who used it to deal with his depression, made worse by the fact that his ex-wife wouldn’t let him see or speak to their six children.

My mother and Kevin spoke every day for the four weeks prior to his suicide. When she hadn’t heard from him for three days, she went to look for him and was the first to find him lying dead in his apartment. He left my mother, among other posessions, an iPod with a playlist entitled Final Mix.

Final Mix

• 1. Matchbox 20 – Shame
• 2. Matchbox 20 – Long Day
• 3. Cowboy Junkies – Misguided Angel
• 4. James Blunt – Goodbye My Lover
• 5. Dire Straits – Why Worry
• 6. Keb’ Mo’ – I’m Telling You Now
• 7. Miles Davis – Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World
• 8. Enya – Only Time
• 9. Kenny G – End of the Night
• 10. Collective Soul – Pretty Donna
• 11. Mark Knopfler – Last Exit To Brooklyn
• 12. Mark Knopfler – Last Exit to Brooklyn (Finale)
• 13. Pink Floyd – Goodbye Cruel World

Listen to Kevin’s Final Mix and read the lyrics on the Memorial Pages

I can’t help but find this playlist chilling and heartbreaking. I think it’s also an important message that if you know an addict, help them get the support they need.

“He was a kind man who shared his wealth with all around him (strangers included).”

“He was a methamphetimine addict who used it to deal with his depression, made worse by the fact that his ex-wife wouldn’t let him see or speak to their six children.”