Connor Murphy, fitness influencer whose rise in the mid-2010s captivated millions, died suddenly on July 7, aged 32 years.

On July 8, the official Instagram account of RxMuscle shared the news with the caption, “We're saddened by the passing of Connor Murphy, who, as we were informed by Tony Huge, passed due to drowning.”

The incident occurred in a lake at a luxury housing estate in Thailand. Murphy was staying in a tent house in the Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan province.

According to a July 8 report by Khaosod English, before his death, Murphy began behaving erratically. Bangkok Post also admitted that Murphy returned to his rented village in a hired vehicle and later offered the driver 1000 baht and asked him to drive further.

After that, Murphy went to another resident's car for a ride, but the owner refused to give him one. That incident created chaos at the place.

After seeing the situation, neighbors called the police. When they arrived, Murphy headed toward a nearby lake on the property and started to swim, but after finally becoming exhausted, Murphy drowned.

According to The Washington Times, “A village staff member recorded video of Mr. Murphy’s erratic behavior. Before he entered the water, witnesses said he appeared exhausted before disappearing beneath the surface, according to Khaosod English. Witnesses said they did not attempt a rescue because the lake was more than 10 meters deep.”

A rescue mission was conducted by divers with the Poh Teck Tung Foundation for nearly 30 minutes, and they then found Murphy’s body nearly 20 meters from shore.

Although no signs of assault were identified, the body was later sent to Ramathibodi Chakri Naruebodindra Hospital for a postmortem.

Later investigation found that the property where Murphy and his girlfriend were staying “had been vandalized, with black and yellow paint splashed across furniture, decorations and appliances throughout the property.”

When the news was posted, concern and condolences poured in from all over the internet.

Internet reacts to Connor Murphy’s death

Some fans highlighted an urgent issue that society is currently facing. One user said, “RIP. Mental health is no joke.”

The situation of Murphy points out many issues, including s******* use and immense online pressure.

While one fan said, “Used to watch him a lot back in the early days, along with Jeff Seid when they were both at their aesthetic peak. I never would have imagined back then how things would turn out. Take care of yourselves, everyone reading this. Life is a gift. God bless ❤️✝️”, another said, “damn. RIP🙏🏻.”

Last but not least, another fan said, “dude was a great guy. Used to watch all of his early YouTube videos. Sad how things changed up for him. RIP.”

Murphy rose to popularity in the mid-2010s and became a household name in the digital lifting community for his physique and his public prank videos.

However, his career was largely affected between 2020 and 2023 because of publicized mental health issues.

He even admitted that he went through a mental health issue and spent some time in a psychiatric facility.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil