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 tragically passed away under mysterious circumstances within a short span of time.
Each of these students had undergone private hypnosis sessions with their principal, Dr. George Kenney, at North Port High School.
An in-depth investigation into the circumstances surrounding these deaths and Kenney’s involvement revealed that he had hypnotized over 70 individuals over a period of five years. This included numerous students. Importantly, Kenney was not a licensed hypnotherapist and had been advised multiple times by his superiors to cease such practices.
Yet, Kenney maintained in the 2023 true crime docuseries, True Crime Story: Look Into My Eyes, that he was ‘effective and knowledgeable about what I was doing’.
He conducted private sessions to assist students with concerns such as test anxiety, focus issues, and athletic performance, among others. These sessions were documented on film by Kenney, and parental consent was required for students to participate.
Eric Williams, the first student to be hypnotized by Kenney privately, reported significant improvements in his test scores. Kenney stated in the docuseries that others also experienced positive outcomes from the sessions.
Kenney extended his hypnosis practices to the school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC).
In July 2011, reports from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune illuminated that Kenney had hypnotized at least 75 individuals, including students, athletic teams, staff, and parents at North Port, with one student experiencing 40 sessions.
Legal documents revealed that Kenney claimed ignorance regarding the potential harm hypnosis could cause, particularly to those with depression, and admitted to not inquiring about the students’ medical or mental history prior to the sessions.
Some students continued to report negative effects post-hypnosis. On a 2009 JROTC field trip, Kenney allegedly hypnotized four students, with one recalling waking up with lipstick on his face and no memory of the events after being told to apply what was said to be sunblock. He kept silent for years, feeling intimidated and embarrassed.
Another student recounted being hypnotized to perceive numbers in a foreign language, later finding himself lost in a hotel, waking up in pantyhose and lipstick. He stated that issues with memory and concentration persisted for years following the incident.
Marcus Freeman, 16, had sessions to avoid feeling pain during football games, as claimed by his best friend Deric Thomas in the documentary.
Freeman was reportedly placed in a ‘trance’ by Kenney, remaining mentally aware but unable to feel his body. Thomas noted that this had a notable impact on Freeman’s performance in games, allowing him to sustain heavy hits without showing signs of pain, yet sometimes appearing vacant when leaving the field.
Kenney explained in the docuseries that his intent was to help Freeman’s brain process the game more slowly, denying any use of hypnosis to block physical pain.
Tragically, Freeman lost his life in a car accident on March 15, 2011, which occurred after his girlfriend noted a ‘strange look on his face’ following a dentist appointment, leading to the car veering off the road and hitting a tree, as reported by The Guardian.
Wesley McKinley, aged 16, took his own life on April 8, 2011. The musician reportedly had three hypnosis sessions with Kenney, with ABC News stating that Kenney hypnotized him the day prior to his death.
His mother, Peggie, described her son’s unusual behavior on the day of his death. In the docuseries, she recounted, “It was Friday afternoon,” and continued, “Wesley had come home from school, walked past me, put his bookbag down and walked out the back door. 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.”
Kenney mentioned in the docuseries that McKinley faced cyberbullying and other issues, claiming he was unaware of McKinley’s depression during their sessions.
Brittany Palumbo, 17, sought Kenney’s help in late 2010 to improve her SAT scores and manage test anxiety.
However, after a hypnosis session, Palumbo performed poorly on her retaken SATs.
On May 4, 2011, Palumbo went to her room to nap but did not respond when called for dinner. Her parents later discovered she had died.
“I don’t think that he programmed her, obviously, to go in and [die by] suicide,” Patricia noted in the docuseries. “But I think he possibly gave her a tool that allowed her to do what she did, because she did not remember most of that hypnosis session.”
Following Palumbo’s death, Kenney was put on paid administrative leave. Some students voiced their support for Kenney during the docuseries.
The Sarasota County school board conducted a thorough investigation into Kenney’s hypnosis practices, with assistance from Steele Investigations Agency. The Florida Department of Health investigated several related cases, charging that Kenney was not a licensed healthcare professional.
Ultimately, Kenney pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of practicing therapeutic hypnosis without a license and resigned in June 2012, thereby avoiding more severe charges of practicing therapy without a license that could have resulted in imprisonment.
In December 2012, the families of Freeman, McKinley, and Palumbo filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Sarasota County school board. According to NBC News, by October 2015, a settlement was reached with each family receiving $200,000.
Kenney was sentenced to two consecutive six-month probation terms and 50 hours of community service. Upon fulfilling these conditions, he relocated from Florida.
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.