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Friends: DiPaola Was Under 'Extreme Pressure'

BOSTON (CBS) - The friends and family of Middlesex County Sheriff James DiPaola are mourning his death after his suicide in Maine over the weekend.

Investigators said they found a handwritten note to his family inside the Wells, Maine hotel room; DiPaola had a single gunshot to the head.

One longtime friend, Taunton State Representative James Fagan, said he doesn't know why DiPaola pulled the trigger, but he does know that his friend was under extreme pressure after media reports of his apparent double-dipping.

WBZ-TV's Peg Rusconi reports.

"This was a man who worked very hard," Fagan told WBZ New Radio's Carl Stevens. "He dedicated his life to helping people out, and all of a sudden he found himself the target of all this cynicism and the hatred. And the unsigned blogs, the cowards that simply write a message but don't sign their name."

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Rep. James Fagan talks to WBZ New Radio's Carl Stevens

Fagan said public officials can face intense, and sometimes unfair, scrutiny.

"When you look at the environment that everyone in politics now lives in, where there's a continuous pressure, a mounting public cynicism that's often fanned by media for its own ends."

DiPaola made recent headlines for an attempt at collecting pension and a salary at the same time. After the scandal became public DiPaola resigned.

WBZ-TV's Sera Congi talks with DiPaola's co-workers.

Recently, the Massachusetts attorney general's office said it was investigating allegations of improper use of campaign funds by DiPaola. In addition, the state ethics commission was investigating whether sheriff's office employees were raising money for DiPaola's political committee.

The DiPaola family released a statement late Sunday, acknowledging "the outpouring of support and condolences they have received from colleagues, friends, and acquaintances regarding the loss of their beloved husband, father, grandfather, and brother."

The family announced that funeral services will be private.

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