Australian Diplomat Killed During LES 'Trust Fall,' Sources Say

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — An Australian diplomat was killed early Wednesday in an accidental fall from his Lower East Side balcony, police said.

Julian Simpson, a United Nations diplomat from Australia, was demonstrating a “trust fall” on the seventh floor balcony of his apartment on Clinton St., according to police and sources. The New York Post was first to report on Simpson's death.

Officers responded at 1:15 a.m. to Simpson’s apartment on Clinton Street, near East Houston Street. An NYPD spokesman says Simpson fell from the seventh floor balcony onto a second floor landing.

He was pronounced dead at this hospital.

An NYPD spokesman could not provide details on what preceded Simpson's fall, but the New York Post reported that Simpson and his wife had been out to dinner and drinks with friends before returning to Simpson's Lower East Side building.

Police sources told the Post that Simpson offered to play the "trust game" with another person in the group, during which Simpson would lean back on the balcony ledge and trust the person to catch him. According to the Post, Simpson was on the balcony railing when he fell backward.

A spokesman for the Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations did not immediately return a phone call from Patch seeking comment.

Watch Now: Australian Diplomat Killed During LES 'Trust Fall'

This is a developing story. Please refresh this page for updates.

Image credit: Ciara McCarthy / Patch. Image caption: The apartment building where police say Simpson fell on Wednesday morning.