Bill Nojay, a New York State assemblyman scheduled to run next week in its Republican primary, committed suicide at a Rochester cemetery Friday morning, local media reported. He was 59.
Authorities were called to the Riverside Cemetery at around 9:20 a.m. Friday over reports of shots fired, Rochester’s WHEC-TV reported. Nojay was found near his family plot dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, sources told the local NBC affiliate.
The chairman of the Monroe County Republican Party, Bill Reilich, confirmed his colleague’s passing Friday morning to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
“It’s tragic news,” Mr. Reilich said. “It’s terrible to hear this about anybody, but certainly somebody who has been a public servant and somebody who I personally knew.”
Mr. Nojay, a Republican who has represented the town of of Pittsford in the State Assembly since 2012, was slated to defend his role in a Sept. 13 primary against GOP hopeful Richard Milne.
According to the NBC affiliate, however, Mr. Nojay was reportedly expected to surrender to authorities on Friday over fraud charges announced in July by authorities in Cambodia. The Khmer Times reported then that the lawmaker and three others are accused of convincing a woman to invest in a company that would ship rice to the U.S. before the firm went bankrupt.
MR. Nojay was previously commissioner of the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority and most recently hosted a radio talk show on WYSL.
“He was a great guy. He believed in giving everybody an opportunity,” Assemblyman David Gantt, Rochester Democrat, told the Democrat & Chronicle. “That’s why he and I we were great friends. Even though I am a liberal, and he was a staunch conservative. He was an honest and open guy who believed in people getting a fair shake.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.