At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, AAFS president Dr. Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal complications of a bizarre death. Here is the story:
On March 23, 1994, the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head. The decedent had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to commit suicide.
He left a note to that effect indicating his despondency. As he fell past the ninth floor, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the decedent was aware that a safety net had been installed just below at the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.
Ordinarily, Dr. Mills continued, "a person who sets out to commit suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be what he intended" is still defined as committing suicide. Mr. Opus was shot on the way to certain death nine stories below at street level, but his suicide attempt probably would not have been successful because of the safety net. This caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands.
The room on the ninth floor from whence the shotgun blast emanated was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously, and he was threatening her with a shotgun. The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window striking Mr. Opus.
When one intends to kill subject A, but kills subject B in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject B. When confronted with the murder charge, the old man and his wife were both adamant. They both said they thought the shotgun was unloaded. The old man said it was his long standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her. Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident, that is, the gun had been accidentally loaded.
The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident. It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother.
The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.
Now comes the exquisite twist. Further investigation revealed that the son was in fact Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent over both the loss of his financial support and the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This led him to jump off the ten-story building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth-story window. The son had actually murdered himself, so the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.
2006-06-21 04:23:33 · 23 answers · asked by tone 4 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Jokes & Riddles
im not sure but that was by far the best story i have ever read on this site....congrats
2006-06-21 04:34:26 · answer #1 · answered by lastofodyinbreed 4 · 6⤊ 0⤋
I'd say suicide and attempted murder, both by Ronald Opus, so he's dead and can't go to jail, but he'll have a permanent record for attempted murder against his mother. I think that's parricide?
2006-06-21 11:29:47 · answer #2 · answered by Denisse 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
people who commit suicide put a huge strain on the legal systems and cause great public expense in so doing.
surely it would be better to have like a suicide ranch out in the country, approved by legislation so that no further inquests or police enquiries would be needed, and it could be approved by life insurance companies, allowing for swift payouts to the families of suiciders.
2006-06-21 11:42:07 · answer #3 · answered by blank 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is the most fantastical thing i've ever heard. But i suppose that it could happen. Truth IS stranger than fiction. lol
Personally, i think it was a homocide and that opus should be charged with murder(of himself) and conspiring to murder (his mom) and of manipulation of others with malicious intention.
Kinda funny actually, if u think about it.
2006-06-21 11:30:45 · answer #4 · answered by louzadodude 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Pretty cool. The son loaded the gun for his own murder. Makes it a suicide.
2006-06-21 11:33:29 · answer #5 · answered by sparklingsapphireeyes 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i would it is a suicide though he deserverd it in whatever way it came. he had the intention of killing his mom with the hands of his dad but ended up being killed the other way.it should have ended up in a murder case as a contradiction coz a murder is a murder .there is no excuse for it.a nice story .keep it up!
2006-06-21 11:54:30 · answer #6 · answered by radhika 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Holy Cow! That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard of. I'm going to have to say I think it was Suicide.
2006-06-21 11:33:28 · answer #7 · answered by WENDY G 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Maybe he knew there was a safety net there so he only jumped off to see his mother die thinking that he wouldnt die from the jump.
2006-06-21 12:12:19 · answer #8 · answered by the_cat_in_the_hat 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
id say it was a suicide, but the old amn should be chargered for assult with a dangerous weapon, but the kid is well dead...thats a greta story, but im not sure which it is but best bet is suicide!
2006-06-21 11:49:05 · answer #9 · answered by Jonathan K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What an interesting story to say the least....It appears as suicide....very complex...but it is suicide
2006-06-21 11:28:56 · answer #10 · answered by celine8388 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's mental! Did it really happen?
Thanks for the read, gets you thinking.
2006-06-21 11:36:17 · answer #11 · answered by carolyn s 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋