The Body on the Moors

[Robert]

I'm assuming the autopsy would have found any traces of Alzheimer's.

Suicides are strange fish, I know, but I find the idea of a man who wants to kill himself buying a sandwich somewhat odd.

[Pcdunn]

I'm assuming the autopsy would have found any traces of Alzheimer's.

Suicides are strange fish, I know, but I find the idea of a man who wants to kill himself buying a sandwich somewhat odd.

I don't know. A few years ago a pair of sisters traveled from Australia to a particular city in Colorado so they could attempt a suicide pact at a place called the "Family Shooting Range"-- only one woman died, I think.

Okay, so maybe Neil has an assignment or an appointment which he decides not to carry out or keep. He eventually takes off for the forest, figuring to lose himself in the (semi-)wilderness, but someone trailed him, caught up with him while he was sleeping, and somehow got the poison into him. (Yes, I do like spy stories-- why do you ask?! )
Plenty of questions, still, but we might as well consider all options.

[GUT]

I don't know. A few years ago a pair of sisters traveled from Australia to a particular city in Colorado so they could attempt a suicide pact at a place called the "Family Shooting Range"-- only one woman died, I think.

Okay, so maybe Neil has an assignment or an appointment which he decides not to carry out or keep. He eventually takes off for the forest, figuring to lose himself in the (semi-)wilderness, but someone trailed him, caught up with him while he was sleeping, and somehow got the poison into him. (Yes, I do like spy stories-- why do you ask?! )
Plenty of questions, still, but we might as well consider all options.

I recall that one, I think the 2nd sister was charged with something.

But don't recall ever hearing an outcome.

[Ginger]

It does a bit. (Taman shud, I thought) also a rock band here in Newie, later to become The Sunsets, knew a couple of them. Nothing to do with the case, but first time the names jelled, Taman Shud means Ended or similar in some language, Egyptian maybe?

It's the final line of Omar Khayyam's "Rubaiyat", and means "It is ended" or "The end" in Persian. The dead man had the last page of a rather uncommon small-press edition of the Rubaiyat hidden in his clothing.

[caz]

Caz, how would someone with such a plate get through the airport machines? Would they bleep, or what?

I don't know, Robert. My ex had his pin removed once the break had healed. But I imagine airports must have had to deal with passengers who have metal pins or plates fitted.

Yes I did wonder if the man drank strychnine having brought the wrong box, and thought he was drinking painkiller or morphine or something. But we still have the problem of why he appeared to be lying so peaceful.

I don't have the necessary medical knowledge, but I wondered if numbness due to hypothermia, and the system slowing right down, might stop the body contorting from the strychnine. Also, if someone knew they were dying slowly from exposure, would they suffer so badly that they would take anything just to end it quickly?

Love,

Caz
X

[Pcdunn]

Caz,

Maybe. I was once locked out of my house because of a number of circumstances, too boring to list here, on a September night-- wasn't bad until the temp began to drop. I wandered around the patio and porch, trying to wait for daybreak and my house-mate's return from work. I was not suicidal, so didn't enjoy the experience at all, and didn't sleep much.

[Robert]

Well, if I were dying from hypothermia, and wanted to end it quickly, then it would have been a stroke in a million that I happened to have some strychnine handy. If on the other hand I had brought the strychnine with the intention of using it to kill myself, why give myself a dose of hypothermia first?

[Pcdunn]

Perhaps he was counting on dying by exposure as some sort of penance, and the poison was just a backup.

Or, he didn't bring it with him-- his murderer left it with him.

[Shaggyrand]

I don't know. A few years ago a pair of sisters traveled from Australia to a particular city in Colorado so they could attempt a suicide pact at a place called the "Family Shooting Range"-- only one woman died, I think.

I recall that one, I think the 2nd sister was charged with something.

But don't recall ever hearing an outcome.

Kristin and Candace Hermeler. That was a really weird case. At least one of them had had an obsession with Columbine, had even written to and even called one of the survivors several times. Their suitcases were full of news and magazine clippings about it. They also had a small stack of books about various spiritual beliefs and The God Delusion (I think, maybe another Dawkins book). Instead of leaving a suicide note they had mailed letters to a lawyer to distribute after they died. They had just hung around the area of the school for five weeks. The surviving twin never said anything about their reasoning and refused to even identify herself- she was finally identified by relatives they had to fly over. There were no charges.
Very strange, very sad.

[GUT]

Kristin and Candace Hermeler. That was a really weird case. At least one of them had had an obsession with Columbine, had even written to and even called one of the survivors several times. Their suitcases were full of news and magazine clippings about it. They also had a small stack of books about various spiritual beliefs and The God Delusion (I think, maybe another Dawkins book). Instead of leaving a suicide note they had mailed letters to a lawyer to distribute after they died. They had just hung around the area of the school for five weeks. The surviving twin never said anything about their reasoning and refused to even identify herself- she was finally identified by relatives they had to fly over. There were no charges.
Very strange, very sad.

Thanks, I recall there was talk of charges at one time, but obviously they didn't proceed.

[Pcdunn]

It was one of the most bizarre things ever to turn up on my local newscast, I know that. Thanks to Shaggyrand for researching the outcome. All I knew was the story was hot for a few days, then dropped out of rotation. Mental illness was most likely at the root of it.

[caz]

Well, if I were dying from hypothermia, and wanted to end it quickly, then it would have been a stroke in a million that I happened to have some strychnine handy. If on the other hand I had brought the strychnine with the intention of using it to kill myself, why give myself a dose of hypothermia first?

That's not quite what I had in mind, Robert.

I wondered if it was belt and braces. Try the effects of exposure first, and if that doesn't do the trick, or is taking too long and becomes unbearable, resort to the strychnine to do the job for you. I mean, one can only [successfully] commit suicide once, and the length and level of suffering involved with each potential method would presumably be an unknown quantity and differ from person to person. Two years ago, one of my brothers (with a long history of depression) drank himself almost into a coma before jumping to his death from his high-rise balcony.

If the man on the moor went there alone and determined to die, he had to make sure his available/chosen method(s) would work and not just leave him dying slowly of hunger and thirst. Alternatively, it might have taken him hours to pluck up the courage to take the strychnine, by which time the cold December night air would already have taken effect. But the fact he wasn't suitably dressed for the trip and went despite the warning about not getting back in daylight looks like part of the plan.

Love,

Caz
X

[Robert]

Hi Caz

It may be as you say.

Very sorry to hear about your brother.

[caz]

Thanks Robert. It finally seemed an appropriate moment to mention it, but I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone for the world.

Incidentally, my brother didn't leave any hints about "going abroad", or (heaven forbid) "going like mother", and he didn't talk to any north country vicars - he wasn't religious. So if one sells a story to the papers in a few years it will be a story - not fact dressed up as fiction.

Love,

Caz
X

[GUT]

That's not quite what I had in mind, Robert.

I wondered if it was belt and braces. Try the effects of exposure first, and if that doesn't do the trick, or is taking too long and becomes unbearable, resort to the strychnine to do the job for you. I mean, one can only [successfully] commit suicide once, and the length and level of suffering involved with each potential method would presumably be an unknown quantity and differ from person to person. Two years ago, one of my brothers (with a long history of depression) drank himself almost into a coma before jumping to his death from his high-rise balcony.

If the man on the moor went there alone and determined to die, he had to make sure his available/chosen method(s) would work and not just leave him dying slowly of hunger and thirst. Alternatively, it might have taken him hours to pluck up the courage to take the strychnine, by which time the cold December night air would already have taken effect. But the fact he wasn't suitably dressed for the trip and went despite the warning about not getting back in daylight looks like part of the plan.

Love,

Caz
X

Sorry about your brother Caz (that mongrel Black Dog as Churchill called it) but I think your last paragraph is the most likely, took him time to pluck up the courage and on a cold night hypothermia, which he barely noticed in a depressed and suicidal state, got him.