Former Alabama man commits suicide by jumping from Gatlinburg Space Needle

By Erin Edgemon | eedgemon@al.com AL.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on April 12, 2016 at 4:04 PM, updated April 12, 2016 at 4:32 PM

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A former Alabama man committed suicide on Monday evening by jumping off the Gatlinburg Space Needle.

David Ray Pinyan, 58, of Pigeon Forge jumped from the observation deck of the Space Needle, Gatlinburg police said in a press release.

Gatlinburg police received a report at around 5:40 p.m. eastern time of a person falling from the popular tourist destination, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported.

The Space Needle is 407 feet high and overlooks Gatlinburg and the surrounding Smoky Mountains.

Pinyan, formerly of Blount County, Ala. pleaded guilty in January 2012 to one count of fraud in connection with the sale of securities.

Pinyan received a suspended 10-year prison sentence and was ordered to serve five years of probation.

The charges against Pinyan stemmed from a 12-count indictment in April 2010 by a Blount County grand jury.

An investigation showed that between May 2006 and August 2007, Pinyan allegedly used schemes centered on various land development opportunities and transactions involving the buying and selling of automobiles.

The commission said Pinyan used these schemes to defraud Alabama investors of several thousands of dollars.