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When Missouri's state auditor and Republican gubernatorial hopeful Tom Schweich shot himself in his home in February, his death shattered those close to him.

And by coming at a time he had accused the state party chairman of spreading anti-Semitic whispers about him, Schweich's suicide has also sent tremors of division through the highest levels of the state's political class. It set off a wide-ranging debate over whether his suicide resulted from mental health issues kept private and whether it was fed by the state's vitriolic politics.

The fractured state Republican Party was cleaved anew this week by a similar gunshot suicide by one of Schweich's top aides. Spence Jackson, a respected and experienced Republican spokesman, left a note saying he couldn't face being jobless again.

"Within the Republican Party, you have a lot of finger-pointing going on," says Bill Kenney, the 60-year-old Missouri public service commissioner and a former Republican state Senate floor leader, adding that Schweich's death and that of his deputy presented a scenario he'd never seen before in politics.

"This is just bizarre," Kenney said. "Most people are in shock."

The exact precipitant for the two deaths may never be determined, but, particularly in Schweich's case, the extenuating circumstances appeared to have been known by many.

Schweich didn't have the support of the most conservative factions that form the state party's base. But he did have the backing of Missouri's more moderate, patrician Republicans, including former U.S. Sen. John C. Danforth.

Schweich's main opponent in the GOP race for governor was former state House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, the beneficiary of at least $900,000 in donations from conservative St. Louis billionaire Rex Sinquefield. (Such donations are legal in Missouri, which has no limit on contributions or lobbyist gifts.) Although he had a comparatively healthy campaign account, Schweich was so riled by Sinquefield's donations that he used his gubernatorial announcement to attack the billionaire.

Then came a campaign ad linked to a Hanaway strategist that ridiculed Schweich's physical appearance.

"Is he a weak candidate for governor?" the ad asked of the slender and balding candidate. "Absolutely, just look at him. He could easily be confused for the deputy chief of Mayberry" the ever-risible Barney Fife.

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Two suicides leave Missouri Republican Party in disarray