Three students died after being hypnotized by their principal as details revealed in docuseries
The confusing case is detailed in a documentary focusing on the tragic deaths of three students and their principal, who is speaking out
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing
Marcus Freeman, Wesley McKinley, and Brittany Palumbo were three students from the same small town in Florida who all died mysteriously within weeks of each other.
All of them had private hypnosis sessions with their principal, Dr. George Kenney, who worked at North Port High School.
An investigation into the deaths and Kenney found that the principal had hypnotized more than 70 people over a five-year period, a shocking figure that includes many students. Crucially, he had never been a licensed hypnotherapist, and had been told to stop multiple times by his bosses.
Advert
Kenney told 2023 true crime docuseries True Crime Story: Look Into My Eyes that he was 'effective and knowledgeable about what I was doing', despite learning hypnosis from DVDs and five days of classroom training.
He offered private sessions to help students with issues like anxiety about tests, issues with focus, improving performance in athletics, and more.
According to legal documents obtained by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, some students Kenney hypnotized experienced adverse effects.
One testified that after being given what he was told was sunblock to apply, he woke up with lipstick on his face and no memory of what happened.
Another student said Kenney hypnotized him to see numbers in a foreign language; he later became lost in the hotel and woke up wearing pantyhose and lipstick.
One student said during the court case: "He was very intimidating. I didn't feel safe or comfortable around him, knowing what he had done."
Marcus Freeman, 16, attended sessions before football games to avoid feeling pain, ensuring that he could carry on playing, his best friend, Deric Thomas claims in the 2023 documentary.
Freeman would be put into a ‘trance’ by Kenney, in which he was present mentally, but was unable to feel his body.
According to Thomas, the hypnosis had a clear effect on Freeman’s ability during the games. He would ‘take hits from kids three times the size of him and just keep going’. Kenney denied using hypnosis to stop physical pain.
According to police reports, Kenney taught Freeman how to 'self-hypnotise'.
The student and his girlfriend were involved in a car accident on March 15, 2011 which claimed his life.
His girlfriend said they were driving home from a painful dentist appointment when she noticed a ‘strange look on his face’ before the vehicle veered off the road and crashed into a tree, The Guardian reports.
A few weeks later, Wesley McKinley took his own life aged 16 on April 8, 2011. The musician had three known sessions with Kenney, according to the docuseries, and ABC News reports Kenney admitted to hypnotizing him the day before his death.
McKinley’s mother Peggie said: "He had told me friends were coming over. I asked what time they were coming over, and he just walked past me out the back door ... an hour later I heard sirens."
Brittany Palumbo, 17, met with Kenney in late 2010 in an attempt to improve her SAT scores and to reduce her anxiety for the tests.
On May 4, 2011, the teen walked to her room and said she was taking a nap. But when her parents called her for dinner and she didn’t respond, they eventually found her dead.
Kenney was placed on paid administrative leave shortly after Palumbo’s death and ultimately pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of practicing therapeutic hypnosis without a license. He avoided more serious charges of practicing therapy without a license that could have led to prison time.
He received two consecutive six-month probation terms and 50 hours of community service, and after completing them, he moved out of Florida. He was allowed to retire from the school board with a full pension.
In December 2012, the parents of Freeman, McKinley, and Palumbo sued the Sarasota County school board for the wrongful death of their teens. In October 2015, the families and the school board settled, with each family receiving the maximum of $200,000.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 to reach a 24-hour crisis center or you can webchat at 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
Topics: News, US News, Parenting, School, True crime, Film and TV, Documentaries
Greg Harris