Casper businessman and philanthropist Mick McMurry died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound early Tuesday, the Natrona County Coroner said Wednesday.

The cause of death was by a gunshot, and the manner of death was suicide, Coroner Connie Jacobson said.

The McMurry family also issued this statement through Jacobson: "'Mick died by his own choice.'"

Casper Police Chief Jim Wetzel confirmed on Tuesday that McMurry died at his home earlier that morning.

McMurry was a pioneer with his father W.M. “Neil” McMurry in the production of natural gas from the Jonah Field near Pinedale in the 1990s.

In recent years, Mick McMurry and his wife Susie have made sizable donations to projects at the University of Wyoming and elsewhere around the state through their McMurry Foundation.

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