It has been revealed that the man who jumped to his death at Mountain Winery in Saratoga in August had some domestic troubles – big shocker.

The scene was perfect – a warm Thursday evening, some soft, soothing music is emanating from the band on stage at Mountain Winery. Then out of nowhere, a man jumps to his death in front of everyone.

Other than that, everything was peaceful.

Peaceful enough for 32 year old Michael Pickels to jump off of a building  during a performance and die. At around 10pm, the doomed man left the audience of a show that Irish folk rock band The Swell Season was putting on. Seconds later, Pickels was on the roof of a church-esque building behind the stage and no sooner than he appeared,  jumped and fell near the band’s singer Glen Hansard.

Hansard thought he was being pranked and some in the audience thought it was a part of the show. They thought a man jumping off of a building was part of a peace-themed concert at a music festival called “Hippiefest.” Yeah.

The social networking buzz began at that moment. Hundreds of bewildered attendees put their thumbs to work once they finally realized his jump wasn’t just part of the show.

The man had some issues, naturally. In the midst of a Jan. 1 argument with his girlfriend, he whipped out a shotgun and said he was going to finish her and kill himself. He’s been out on $150,000 bail, but he was slated to be in court October 5 to face the music (no pun intended) on charges of assault with a firearm, false imprisonment and domestic violence. In addition, he bound her hands and feet together while she pleaded with the insane man.

An investigation is still going as to how the man was even able to access the roof. The Swell Season plans to return next year to play a show to raise suicide prevention awareness.

Pickels, on top of scarring many minds forever, is hurting Mountain Winery’s business. Some concert attendees say that they don’t have it in them to return to Mountain Winery after what they witnessed. Others, according to the Monterey Herald, say: “It’s no big deal, just some nut case who jumped off the edge.”

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