Who Was Really Was William L. Toomey And Why Did He Poison Himself With Cyanide?

On December 4th, 1982, a well-dressed stranger walked into the Sacred Hearts Church in Boise, Idaho.He appeared to be between 35-45 years old and was heavily suntanned, had sun-bleached hair. He apparently wanted to go to the confessional, but it was occupied at the time, so he waited. As parishioners entered for the 6 p.m. mass, one of them found the man lying dead on the floor. The police were called to investigate. None of the church members recognized the man and he carried no identification.

An autopsy determined that he had committed suicide by swallowing cyanide tablets.The man was dressed in Western attire
Belt was brown leather with a large buckle displaying a Mexican 100 peso coin in the center, bolo-type tie made of turquoise and silver. He had a wallet on him,  but all items of personal identification had been removed, worn spots on the wallet indicated that it had previously held several items. There was also $1,900 in cash and a typewritten note which stated:
"In the event of my death, The enclosed currency should give more than adequate compensation for my funeral or disposal (preferred to be cremated) expenditures. What is left over, please take this as a contribution to this church. God will see to your honesty in this.". The note was signed "William L. Toomey" However, no person with that name could be located. Police did discover that a Boston company which manufactured ceremonial garb for priests had the same name. Despite this, they could find no connection between the company and the dead man.

Police traced some of his clothing items back to Phoenix Arizona and took the  man's fingerprints. No matches were found in any databases. The church's priest believes that the man came from a Catholic background and decided to end his life in church so that he could make peace with God and be taken care of by the church members.

The man known as Toomey has never been identified. However, investigators have looked into the possibility that he may be connected to the murders of two priests in the Southwest in the early 1980's. Both priests had connections to Arizona, which was where Toomey bought the belt buckle. Also, the second murder happened just weeks before his suicide. Despite this, there is little evidence connecting him to either case. There has also been some speculation that Toomey was connected to the murder of Father Reynaldo Rivera, who was murdered in New Mexico in 1982