How did Eddy Galland die? His tragic suicide explained

Eddy Galland must have felt unimaginable euphoria after reuniting with his triplet brothers, David Kellman and Robert Shafran. Sadly, the long-lost siblings would learn they were part of an experiment that necessitated their separation as toddlers. The adoption agency that merged them with their different families denied responsibility, alleging it was easier to find adoptive parents for the kids individually than as a trio. 

Nevertheless, the triplets capitalized on their fame, attending talk shows and partying at the glitziest clubs. Tragedy wasn’t far away, however – after a failed restaurant business, the brothers drifted apart, inadvertently leading to Eddy Galland’s death. 

Eddy Galland committed suicide following a long battle with mental illness

Galland, Kellman, and Shafran were inseparable after reuniting in their late teens: they rented an apartment together, appeared in a film featuring Madonna, and opened a SoHo restaurant dubbed Triplets Roumanian Steakhouse. 

“We did do a lot of crazy things,” Shafram told The New York Post. “Like March down 42nd Street with one of us perched on the other two’s shoulders, stopping traffic.”

The brothers’ bond started disintegrating after Shafran left the restaurant. “It would be fair to say their relationship was very strained from the point [Robert] left the restaurant,” Tim Waddle, the director of The Identical Strangers, a film about the brothers, told the Post. 

Following years of a dysfunctional relationship with his adoptive father, Galland felt he’d found a home alongside Kellman and Shafran. Therefore, the brothers’ fallout affected him the most. “When he met his brothers for the first time, he felt, this is my family,” Wardle stated. “He put everything into being with the boys.”

In 1995, Galland committed suicide after a long battle with mental illness. Some outlets claim he suffered from manic depression. Wardle said Galland spent his final days trying to stay close to his brothers:

“A heartbreaking detail that isn’t in the film is that Eddy moved several times so that he could be close to the brothers. He did that, I think, three times. He had moved close to David and his family when he ultimately died — he was living across the street from them, which is kind of tragic.”

Following Galland’s death, Kellman and Shafran drifted apart. They have since mended their relationship, united in the search for answers about their initial separation. 

The scientist in charge of the experiment, Dr. Peter Neubauer, died in 2008 having never spoken about his research. His research should remain sealed at Yale University until 2065. By then, Shafran and Kellman will likely have died. Shafran told The Los Angeles Times:

“It’s beyond anger. We’ve been called ‘subjects.’ We’re victims. There’s a big difference. I don’t want to play off like we’re horribly injured people now as adults — we have families, we have children — we’re relatively normal people. But they treated us like lab rats. Nothing more. And we’re human beings.”