Lawmaker Shea Commits Suicide

Representative H. James Shea (D,-Newton), who pioneered the landmark bill in the State Legislature challenging the constitutionality of the Vietnam War, took his own life early Saturday morning because of his reported overwork and despair with the continuing conflict in Indochina.

His wife, Mrs. Anita Shea, said she saw the 30-year-old lawmaker fire a bullet into his head soon after they had returned home from a visit with friends.

Mrs. Shea told the Boston Globe that her husband had been "troubled lately because of political pressures."