Boeing whistleblower John Barnett's final moments are revealed in surveillance footage that shows he sat in car with engine running for 11 HOURS before shooting himself dead 

John Barnett was found dead in March just before he was due to testify against Boeing 

Chilling surveillance footage shows the last hours of a Boeing whistleblower before he committed suicide, DailyMail.com can reveal.

John Barnett, 62, was found dead in his truck outside a Holiday Inn in Charleston, South Carolina, in March, just before he was due to resume testimony against the aircraft giant.

Charleston Coroner's Office confirmed on Friday that his death was a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, with Barnett writing 'f*** Boeing' in his suicide note.

Barnett had driven to Charleston from his home in Louisiana. He had already started his deposition in which he alleged Boeing used substandard parts and was due to restart at 10 am on the day he died. 

Footage obtained by DailyMail.com shows Barnett's final hours before his death, walking into the hotel at 7.26pm wearing a red and white sleeveless checkered shirt.

He keeps his head down and walks towards the elevator, before vanishing from sight and only appears again to leave.

The video, from Charleston Police Department, shows the whistleblower leaving the hotel at 8.37pm, around an hour after arriving back to the property.

Barnett has a black jacket on and appears to be holding a document in his hands, which looks eerily similar to his suicide note.

His truck is then captured reversing into a parking spot at 8.46pm, close to the back of the hotel which has less foot traffic.

No one approaches the orange Dodge Ram until a staff member at the hotel discovered Barnett's body at 9am the next day.

Footage obtained by DailyMail.com shows Barnett's final moments before his death, walking into a Holiday Inn at 7.26pm wearing a red and white sleeveless checkered shirt 

At 8.37pm Barnett is seen in a black jacket leaving the hotel. He appears to be holding a document in his hands, which looks eerily similar to his suicide note

At 8.46pm Barnett's truck reverses into a parking space. The red from his tail light is seen 

Around 10.22am an officer shows up and approaches his truck to find Barnett dead 

At 10.27am, cops are seen arriving at the hotel and speaking to the front desk staffer

His lawyers contacted the hotel to request a welfare check, which led to staff members searching his room and the parking lot.

The footage shows that his brake lights were captured blinking on and off at 7.20am on March 9, with investigators finding that the cab of the vehicle was warm and out of fuel. 

Barnett was found in the vehicle wearing the same outfit he was captured leaving the hotel in, with the vehicle locked and the key fob in his pocket, though official reports have not given an exact time of death.

When police arrived they said rigor mortis had not set in – it normally starts around two hours after death and lasts for approximately 24 hours – and the body was still warm, meaning it was possible he died when the brake lights flickered, which would show he had been inside the vehicle for 11 hours before finally ending his life.

'The cab of the vehicle was warm, and the truck was out of fuel,' deputy coroner Ella Butler wrote in the coroner's report. 

'A review of medical records and intrviews with Mr. Barnett' family, attorneys, and healthcare professionals, revealed Mr. Barnett was under chronic stress in the context of the lawsuit,' Butler added.

He was also still grieving over the death of his wife, she said. 

'During his time in Charleston, his attorneys reported Mr. Barnett discussed increasing the dose of his anti-anxiety medication.' 

Barnett's death sparked huge uproar when his body was found the same day he was due to testify against Boeing after alleging under-pressure workers were deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the assembly line.

His phone and hotel key card showed no suspicious activity, and ballistic analysis of the Smith & Wesson found in Barnett's hand at the scene show it was registered under his name and legally purchased in 2000.

The notebook containing his suicide note found in the front passenger seat of the truck had his and only his fingerprints on them.

Records obtained by officials confirmed Barnett had had a history of mental health struggles, which only worsened throughout his lawsuit with Boeing.

For the first time, the contents of Barnett's suicide letter were also revealed, with Barnett writing: 'I CAN'T DO THIS ANY LONGER!!! ENOUGH!! F*** BOEING!!!'

'Bury me face down so Boeing and their lying-a** leaders can kiss my a**.'

Barnett's mother told an investigator with CPD that Barnett would often make these remarks.

The whistleblower ends his letter by addressing his loved ones: 'TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS, I FOUND MY PURPOSE! I'M AT PEACE! I LOVE YOU MORE' with a doodled heart at the end.

The contents of Barnett's suicide letter were also revealed, with Barnett writing: 'I CAN'T DO THIS ANY LONGER!!! ENOUGH!! F*** BOEING!!!' 

Barnett had worked for Boeing for 32 years before retiring in 2017, with 17 of those years spent as a quality manager 

Boeing's assembly plant in North Charleston - where the deceased worked for decades - is seen here

Barnett had worked for Boeing for 32 years before retiring in 2017, with 17 of those years spent as a quality manager.

He was involved in a lawsuit with Boeing up until the day he died, and had been in Charleston undergoing legal interviews as part of the process.

In March, Barnett's lawyers Robin Turkewitz and Brian Knowles, referenced a full list of Barnett's complaints against his employer as outlined in a lawsuit for wrongful retaliation filed in 2021.

Among those is that after raising a certain issue in June 2014, the company retaliated by having a manager spy on him.

Boeing's production practices have been questioned both on the 787, a model called the Dreamliner, and the company's best-selling plane, the 737 Max.

The company has come under increased scrutiny since a panel blew off a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Barnett said in his complaint that he raised the issue of Boeing's 'deep-rooted and persistent culture of concealment' multiple times. He goes on to accuse the company of not documenting and fixing other problems.

In retaliation for his complaints, Barnett said that he was given low scores on performance reports, isolated and forbidden from transferring out of South Carolina.

He says he was 'treated with scorn and contempt by upper management.' Thanks to his treatment, Barnett said that he had to take medical leave in order to deal with stress.

Low scores on performance reviews can affect an employees changes of earning a raise or gaining promotion. Prior to making complaints, Barnett alleges that he was a 'top performer' at the Boeing plant in North Charleston.

Another complaint outlined in the legal filing saw Barnett raising the issue of mechanics doing self-inspections on their own work, something that is prohibited by the Federal Aviation Administration.

In addition to not following FAA protocols, Barnett said that Boeing didn't even follow internal rules.

After emailing another quality control manager in 2012 about a complaint, he claims he was told the company didn't believe him and therefore no investigation took place.

Company officials allegedly asked him to stop complaining about staff taking one piece from a plane and using it on another without authorization.

For that complaint, Barnett said that he was publicly chastised in front of his staff and moved to a new shift.

When he filed another complaint in June 2014 regarding procedures not being followed, Barnett alleges that the company had a manager 'spy' on him as he told 'to work in the gray areas.'

In early January, an unused emergency exit door blew off a brand-new Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International, sparking a still-ongoing DOJ investigation

A United Airlines Boeing 777 loses tire while taking off from San Francisco, crushing cars on the ground

Later that same year, Barnett was put on a 60 day 'corrective action plan' and was told by human resources that there was an investigation underway into his behavior.

In July 2015, Barnett said that he saw his team reassigned without his knowledge, leaving other areas that he was responsible for understaffed.

A year later, Barnett said he was challenged with performing a task involving recovering lost parts during an impossible timeframe. When he raised this, he was told to 'let it go.'

A month after that, Barnett said that he was removed from an investigation into defective passenger oxygen masks finding that 75 out of 300 didn't work. After his removal, he alleges that the investigation never addressed the problem.

Barnett then saw mechanical staff be asked to use scrap parts in planes without proper documentation. When he complained about this, Barnett said he was blocked from applying for a promotion.

In October 2016, Barnett took his complaints to Boeing's national office. In the legal complaint he says that after being told that it would be handled, the investigation reverted back to staff in the Charleston office.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks with reporters at the Capitol in January after MAX 9 planes were grounded following the door incident. The company is now under criminal investigation

A United Airlines Boeing 737 Max suffers landing gear failure after arriving at Houston airport

According to this filing, the same year that he retired, 2017, Barnett filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in which he raised his issues as well as the personal punishments he believed that he received.

Early in the year, he says he learned that he was on a list of 'quality managers to get rid of.'

Boeing issued a statement upon the release of the complaint.

'We are saddened by Mr. Barnett's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends. Boeing reviewed and addressed quality issues that Mr. Barnett raised before he retired in 2017, as well as other quality issues referred to in the complaint about its 2020 disposition of Mr. Barnett's claims,' the company said.

Barnett is just one of many whistleblowers who have come forward in recent months, raising a string of allegations about Boeing's quality control.

Santiago Paredes, who worked for Spirit AeroSystems – where the troubled 737 Max is built – at its factory in Kansas, is the latest to speak out, saying he was asked to hide defects on 737 fuselages.  

If you or a loved one is experiencing suicidal thoughts or actions, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255)