The Body on the Moors

[Joshua Rogan]

There's a documentary on this case coming up on UK tv this week.

Channel 4 Wed 15th March 10pm

Possibly timed to coincide with the inquest mentioned in Robert's link on Tue 14th March.

[Pcdunn]

That is interesting. At least his family knows now.

[MsWeatherwax]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ester-38757699

Oh, what a surprise. I really didn't hold out much hope that this gentleman would ever be identified.

Great work from the Police, on this one.

[Robert]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-38757699

[caz]

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.

Thanks GUT.

Although death by strychnine sounds like an absolutely horrible way to go, the poison was used by one James Maybrick in non-fatal doses for 'recreational' purposes, along with many other noxious substances.

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.

[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

[Robert]

Hi Caz

It may be as you say.

Very sorry to hear about your brother.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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]

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.