What A Way To Go

Miscellaneous

Two Mexican peasant farmers, cousins aged 70 and 85, argued for years over water rights and finally faced off in an old-fashioned pistol duel in the western state of Jalisco on 8 March. The bodies of Manuel Orozco and Candelario Orozco were found 11ft (3.4m) apart with one bullet wound each and the two handguns nearby. The cousins, who were also brothers-in-law, had long debated ownership of a water spring that Candelario used to irrigate a small corn plot near the town of Pihuamo . The disagreement began to get out of hand when a water pipe broke recently. Reuters 11 Mar 2004.

 

Two Caucasian men in their thirties dropped from the undercarriage of an Air France Boeing 777 as it approached Pudong International airport in Shanghai on 24 January after a flight from Paris . One of the men smashed through the roof of a house, leaving a large gash in the roof. The men, who showed signs of frostbite, had probably frozen to death in the wheel wells of the aircraft during the 11-hour journey, dropping from the sky when the landing gear was deployed. Neither carried identification. Stowaways falling from aircraft wheel wells are usually escaping from developing countries and trying to reach the west. New York Times, 25 Jan 2003.

 

A Finnish restaurant employee was driving home at 4am on 11 February when he noticed that his car was rather sluggish. After a few hundred yards he stopped to investigate and found a dead man under the car. According to the police, the deceased, aged about 30, was lying under the car before it was driven off. The vehicle bore no trace of a collision. Nya Aland (Finland) - 12 February 2003.

 

Kieran Duggal, 53, lent forward to unlock his front door with a key tied round his neck. He slipped and became tangled, accidentally throttling himself. Jobless Mr Duggal was found dead outside his home in Balham, southwest London . D.Express, 19 February 2003

 

A man walking his dog was run down and killed by his own car on 23 march. His Nissan Primara hurtled down Portsdown Hill, near Portsmouth , and hit him after he had left it in a car park. Police believe the handbrake had slipped. "it appears as if he tried to stop the car by standing in front of it," said a spokesman. D.Mirror, 24 March 2003

 

An unnamed man found a decomposing body occupying his bed when he returned home to Norwich after visiting relatives for several days. The man lived alone and was not expecting anyone to be in his flat. There was no sign of a forced entry. The body was so decomposed that the police were unable to identify it. Ananova, 5 June 2003.

 

Willie Wagner, nine, was walking across the town street bridge in Columbus , Ohio , on 22 may when he touched a lamp-post and was electrocuted. More than two weeks later, city officials were still unable to say what had happened. No current had been detected on the lamppost or chain-link fence close by. All wires and fuses associated with the lamp were inspected and found to be working and properly insulated. Excavations to examine the two electric transmission lines beneath the concrete sidewalk revealed no defects that would allow moisture inside. Biomedical analysts were trying to determine precisely where the electricity entered and exited the boy's body. [AP], 12 June 2003

 

A college student survived A lightning strike while mountain climbing, but was killed in a second strike. Ryan Sayers, 20, of Colorado Springs , Colorado , and his German girlfriend Katrin Birmann, 24, were climbing a cliff on Steeple Peak , central Wyoming , on 16 June 2003 when lightning hit them 1,500ft (469m) from the summit. Removing their equipment, they decided to sit out the storm, but about an hour later they were hit by a second lightning strike, and Sayers fell about 300ft (90m) into a ravine. Birmann, who suffered minor burns, found her boyfriend dead when she rappelled down to him. A rescue team recovered the body the next day. An examination determined he died from the lightning strikes, not the fall. Associated Press, 20 June 2003.

 

A man aged about 50 was found dead in his seat at a cinema in New Delhi on 24 June after the late-night screening of Bollywood's latest horror film, Bhoot ('ghost'), which the director had warned could pose a health risk to those of a nervous disposition. It is a thriller about a possessed housewife, set in a high-rise Mumbai ( Bombay ) apartment. The dead man, discovered by the cinema's cleaning staff, had no identification papers or external injuries. "no one has come forward to claim the body," said a police official. "maybe he got frightened, I don't know."Reuters, 25 June 2003.

 

Alasdair Porter, 38, a company director, became the first kite surfer to be killed in Britain when a gust of wind swept him 50ft (15m) along Calshot beach, near Southampton , in August 2003 and hurled him head first into a sea wall at incredible speed”. D.Teleqraph, 17 Oct 2003.

 

Eleven people died and thousands were hospitalised with breathing difficulties after a swarm of grasshoppers invaded central Sudan . Health authorities in Wad Medani, 110 miles (177km) southeast of Khartoum , said an epidemic of lung eczema has afflicted 1,685 people since 22 October. Local resident Joseph Mogum said the grasshoppers gave off a strong smell. Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov 2003.

 

A 30-year-old man was killed instantly on 15 March after jumping a red light in Mesa, Arizona and colliding with a pickup truck driven by his older brother, aged 44, who suffered minor injuries. Both lived in mesa, but not near the crash site. Arizona Republic - 16 March 2002.

 

A New Zealand diplomat who died in the Solomon Islands appeared to have accidentally stabbed herself. Bridget Nicols, 50, the new deputy High Commissioner, died from a single knife wound on 17 March. An investigation found that she slipped while carrying kitchen goods into her house in Honiara, and landed on a knife which pierced her just below the heart. Initially, police thought she had been murdered, and even held two men in custody briefly. Adelaide Advertiser - 16 May 2002.

 

Police arrested an Egyptian farmer who buried his unmarried sister alive in an "honour killing" after she became pregnant. The 35-year-old, who had reported his sister missing, confessed to the police that he had killed her. Associated Press - 26 June 2002

 

An Iranian beheaded his seven-year-old daughter after suspecting her uncle had raped her. However, a post mortem examination showed she was a virgin. "The motive behind the killing was to defend my honour, fame and dignity," the father told the Jomhuri-ye-Eslami newspaper. Reuters - 9 September 2002

 

A man shot his brother dead after an argument over a television remote control in Spain's south-west Huelva province. Ignacio Ruiz, 34, used a hunting rifle to blow out the television set before shooting Rafael, 39, in the chest. Independant - 11 September 2002.

 

Filipino labourer Randy Cruz killed his neighbour Rogelio Lopez over who had the more famous surname. A witness told police he saw the two men arguing about their surnames as they walked down Manilla street. At the height of the argument, Cruz, 27, repeatedly stabbed Lopez with a knife. Daily Star - 15 September 2002

 

A Minesota man stabbed and shot his aunt to death after they argued over the flavour of her home-made chilli. Richard Bruestle, 38, of St Paul, was arrested for the murder of Lorene Neil Mcintyre, 50. NY Post - 11 December 2002.

 

Ruben Powell, Nine, was crushed to death in July 2000 when a 5ft (1.5m) gravestone fell on him in a graveyard in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. A verdict of accidental death was recorded on 18 April this year.

Two weeks later, James Wies, nine, died when his skull was crushed by a tombstone during a school field trip with 60 other children to the central Ohio cemetery, which contained graves dating from the 18th century. He may have climbed atop the 5ft (1.5m) tombstone before it toppled. Guardian - 19 April; Associated Press; Reuters - 3 May

 

A 19-year-old man, of Inisfail, northern Queensland, died after being electrocuted when a wave crashed through a cabin window and swamped him while he was using a Sony Play station. He was taking a break from his duties as a deckhand on the trawler Arrow Sea. His game console was on a metal table and plugged into an on-board power supply. Three other crewmembers suffered electric shocks and burns as they tried to help him. Daily Star, Metro - 30 November 2001.

 

WINNIPEG - A young Canadian man watching a hockey game has died after a puck accidentally flew into the stand and hit him in the head, a coroner said on Monday.

``The cause of death (March 3) was a left epidural haemorrhage as a result of being struck in the head by a puck,'' said a statement from the coroner in the western province of Manitoba.

The man, 21, died in a hospital several days after attending a February 26 game in a small town near the provincial capital of Winnipeg. His condition worsened following the game.

The impact of the puck also caused a skull fracture, the coroner said. Reuters - 7 March

 

When Donna Jo Norder, 46, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel reservist, drove into a parking lot at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida on 18 February, a 3ft (91cm) barrier popped up underneath her car, even though she had used a clearance card to access the lot. The car windshield was smashed, both airbags deployed and the front end of the car was perched on top of the barrier when rescue workers arrived. She died at the scene. Associated Press - 19 February 2000

 

DOVER TOWNSHIP, N.J., A 10-year-old boy has been charged with stabbing his father to death as the two argued over a missing can of chocolate cake frosting, authorities said.

Andrew Harms, 38, accused his son of taking the icing, goaded the boy and even handed him a 5-inch kitchen knife during Monday night's argument, Ocean County Prosecutor E. David Millard said.

``The discussion became heated and emotional. At that point, Mr. Harms picked up a knife and placed it in the juvenile's hand and stated that if he hated him that much, then he wanted him to stab him,'' he said.

His son then allegedly plunged it once into the man's chest. Harms died an hour later.

The boy, a fourth-grader whose name was not released, has been charged with manslaughter and illegal possession of a weapon. He was being held without bail Wednesday in a juvenile detention center.

The boy is too young to face charges as an adult, but could get three years of juvenile detention if convicted, Millard said.

``The focus with very young offenders like this is usually toward rehabilitation,'' he said.

Millard would not discuss the prior relationship between the boy and his father except to say there had been ``some emotional turmoil.'' Associated Press - 15 March

 

DUBLIN (Reuters) - A prisoner was stabbed to death in an Irish jail over Easter after his snoring drove a cellmate into a violent rage, newspapers reported Tuesday.

Thomas Brady, 22, was stabbed with a sharpened table knife as he slept in his cell at Dublin's Mountjoy prison early on Easter Sunday. He was rushed to a hospital but could not be saved.

``The Gardai (police) have told me that Thomas was stabbed in his sleep because he was snoring,'' the victim's father told The Star newspaper.

Police said they were questioning a man over the killing but did not disclose his identity. Reuters - 25 April 2000

 

A thief died trying to flee an art museum in Bonn. Peter Grüber panicked after being surprised by a security guard at the Klausmann Museum of Art and when he raced around a corner, impaled himself upon a 4ft (1.2m)-long sword held by a statue of a blindfolded soldier. The exhibit is called "The Weapon of Justice". Guardian - 29 June 2000.

 

Joshua Thomas Burchette, 23, of Ocean City, Maryland, complained of hiccoughs after a couple of beers on 1 July and asked a friend to punch him in the chest to try to get rid of them. When his friend reluctantly obliged, he collapsed on the sidewalk and died. Burchette's mother, Jeri Ann Fisyer, said her family has a history of heart problems and her son often complained of chest pains, but had never been hospitalized or placed on medication. Associated Press - 3 July 2000.

 

Lightning killed a 24-year-old Frenchman as he strolled in a Paris park Sunday, police said.

The thunderbolt hit a metal railing in the Tuileries gardens on the north bank of the river Seine before striking the man, they said. The park is popular with tourists.

French meteorologists predicted violent storms for the next 24 hours in the region around the French capital and the city's mayor ordered the closure of parks and cemeteries. Reuters - 21 August 2000

 

Three young park concession employees jumped into a 178 degree F (81 degree C) hot spring, thinking it was an ordinary cold-water pond. The three were burned on 21 August in the Cavern Spring, a 10ft (3m) deep pool in the Lower Geyser Basin, seven miles (11km) north of Old Faithful in the middle of Yellowstone National Park. Sarah Hulphers, 30, of Oroville, Washington, was burned over her entire body and died a few hours later in a Salt Lake City hospital. The other two - Tyler Montague, 18, and Lance Buchi, 18 - were in critical condition. Associated Press - 24 August 2000.

 

Two men survived the crash of a small plane in the Swiss Alps - only to plummet over a cliff to their deaths while groping through wind-driven snow in search of help. A third man, one of two passengers aboard the Air Zermatt flight to Milan, which crashed after take-off on 23 December from Aosta, reached safety by heading in another direction. Adelaide Advertiser - 27 December 2000.

 

Atlanta, An abusive husband killed his common-law wife by setting her on fire, then died in an explosion when he appparently yanked out a natural gas line in hopes of making the blaze look accidental.

Police said William Reese, 45, doused Rosemary Flournoy, 41, with gasoline and set her on fire early Thursday.

As the flames engulfed Ms. Flournoy, Reese apparently wrenched a gas line loose, causing an explosion that killed him and blew out a chunk of wall in their four-unit apartment building. Associated Press - 9 April 1999

 

 

Truck driver Ling Yiu-hung, 56, stuck in a Hong Kong traffic jam for three hours, was killed by exhaust fumes. He was found unconscious in his truck on 28 December 1998 after it ground to a halt in the traffic. The windows were open and the air conditioning on fullblast. An hour before Ling died, he had phoned his boss complaining of feeling unwell and having a headache. A post mortem found he had died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Daily Mail; Express - 9 April 1999

 

Thomas Giacometti, 36, of New York, was building shelves to store cages for his 12 pet pythons on 17 October when he fell off a ladder and onto a drill. The drill bit penetrated the right side of his skull, killing him instantly. Associated Press - 19 October 1999