Honig Tells of Factors in Wife’s Suicide

Former state schools chief Bill Honig said his wife took her own life after giving in to lifelong psychological problems made worse by his legal problems.

In a story in Tuesday’s San Francisco Chronicle, Honig said he found his wife’s body Thursday evening at their Pacific Heights home.

Next to her, said a police report, was a bottle of vodka one-third full, bottles of pills and a copy of “Final Exit” by Derek Humphry, a how-to suicide handbook.

The report said Honig told investigators that his wife said Wednesday night, “I’m not going to sleep in our bed tonight. I just feel like sleeping alone.” He said he didn’t see her before leaving the house Thursday morning. He said he found her body when he returned home at 7:40 p.m. Thursday.

The couple’s legal problems came in 1993, when Honig was convicted of conflict-of-interest charges for using state Department of Education funds to finance a project his wife had created urging parents to get involved in the education of their children. Nancy Honig was not charged in the case.

Honig served as state schools chief from 1983 to 1993, when he resigned after his conviction. He was sentenced to four years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service. The charges were later reduced from felonies to misdemeanors.