Also known as Smerdyakov hanged himself, Smerdyakov's death, Smerdyakov was dead, Smerdyakov's sudden suicide.
Smerdyakov's suicide is the news Alyosha brings to Ivan at the end of the nightmare. Marya Kondratyevna has found Smerdyakov hanging in his room, and Alyosha has already gone to the police captain before coming to Ivan. The death arrives at the exact moment when Ivan is preparing to use Smerdyakov's confession at the trial.
XI-X. “It Was He Who Said That”
Alyosha realizes that Smerdyakov's death removes the only corroborating witness for Ivan, but he still believes Ivan will testify.
XII-I. The Fatal Day
At the trial, Smerdyakov's absence is officially announced before the witnesses are called, and Dmitri erupts against the dead servant.
XII-VIII. A Treatise On Smerdyakov
The prosecutor treats the suicide as the act of a melancholy, unstable servant rather than proof of murder, stressing that the last note contains no confession.
XII-XII. And There Was No Murder Either
The defense returns to the death as one of the unresolved signs that Smerdyakov cannot be dismissed from suspicion.
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