An Australian diplomat has fallen to his death from a balcony in Manhattan during a night of drinking, according to police in New York City.
Julian Simpson, 30 (pictured at the far right in the above photo) reportedly fell from the seventh floor onto a second floor landing, according to the New York Post.
The Post reports that Simpson and several friends had been out to dinner, before they all returned to the apartment Simpson shared with his wife on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. It is believed they went up on the roof deck to observe the Empire State Building, which was lit up to celebrate Australia‘s successful same-sex marriage postal vote.
A source told the Post that Simpson was playing a “trust game” with another man when he sat backwards on the railing. “I will prove it that you can trust me. Let’s play the trust game,” the 24-year-old claims Simpson said before he slipped and fell.
The man claims he put his arm out to catch Simpson as he began to fall, but he was unable to stop him going off the edge of the building.
A spokesperson for the NYPD denied the ‘trust game’ claim when speaking to Fairfax.
“Upon investigation, it was determined that […] he sat on the balcony railing and lost his balance and fell off,” the spokesperson told Fairfax. “No criminality is suspected at this time and the investigation is ongoing.”
Simpson was Australia’s second secretary to the United Nations and was based at the Australian Mission to the United Nations in New York.
