Team Adam's Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Do you like to read a good murder mystery? Not even Law and Order would attempt to capture this mess. This is an unbelievable twist of fate!!!! 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. Mr. Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to commit suicide.. He left a note to the 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 h! im inst antly. Neither the shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed just below 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. The room on the ninth floor, where 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, and both said that they thought the shotgun was not loaded. The old man said it was a 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, assuming 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. Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger. 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 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, Ronald Opus, had actually murdered himself. So the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide. A true story from Associated Press Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitelord Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Wow, that is whacked. Sounds like one of those twisted tales, that you have to solve with minimal clues. How does a man commit suicide by use of a shotgun, while jumping off the building without said shotgun??? weird... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Adam's Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 I just sent the story to my old law professor. He'll get a kick out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitelord Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 That's got to be the closest to impossible, I've ever heard. I wander how the parents feel? They lost a son, but only because he tried to kill his mother and frame his father for it.. Man that has got to mess with your mind... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylander Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Cool story, but... http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/opus.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Adam's Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Yep, saw that also, killjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylander Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Yep, saw that also, killjoy! Yea, and I found that while I was supposed to be working on some of your stuff. I know, I know... back to work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Adam's Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Stories are like breasts. If they are too good to be true, they aren't real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Gotta love Snopes. They're the most reliable source for BS busting on the web. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuzjarrett94 Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 wow uhh yeah well i guess he set himself up....that and perfect timing.....:lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjwvette Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Very interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now