Self-proclaimed “King Of The Infomercials” Don Lapre reportedly committed suicide yesterday morning in his Arizona jail cell, just a few days before he was due to stand trial for 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and promotional money laundering. Lapre stood accused of swindling around 220,000 customers out of some $52 million with his most recent pitch dubbed “The Greatest Vitamin In The World,” which the FDA argued did not provide the benefits Lapre promised. Lapre was 47.
Lapre had been a fixture of late-night television since the early ’90s, when he began producing infomercials promoting his “Money Making Secrets”—essentially a collection of brochures and audiotapes that relayed strategies for setting up 1-900 numbers and placing "tiny classified ads" to then make money off of other curious recruits. Over the years, the ads promoting his pyramid schemes—which often found Lapre kicked back at some tropical location, excitedly extolling how easy it was to make money while using only the vaguest terms about believing in yourself and so on—were the subject of frequent ridicule and parody (most memorably by David Spade on Saturday Night Live). And even though the consumer watchdog groups weren’t laughing, Lapre’s methods were mostly regarded as innocuous, and ignored by all but the most vulnerable and gullible................
