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Strange Deaths

What amazes me is that that one guy managed to survive being sucked in a fighter jet engine (see the video that is all over the Net).

Mechanic sucked into jet engine

Fatal accident occurred as aircraft prepared to fly to Houston

Monday, January 16, 2006; Posted: 5:55 p.m. EST (22:55 GMT)


(CNN) -- A mechanic standing near a Boeing 737 at El Paso International Airport in Texas was sucked into one of the engines and killed Monday, officials said.

Continental Airlines Flight 1515 was preparing to take off for Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston when "a maintenance-related engine run-up of the right-hand engine" was carried out, said Roland Herwig, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration's southwest region in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

"Someone on the ground was sucked into the engine," he said.

In a written statement, Continental Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner said the person killed was a mechanic who worked for one of the airline's suppliers.

"My fellow coworkers and I extend our heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of the mechanic involved in this tragic event," Kellner said.

The 737-500 was carrying 114 passengers and five crew members at the time of the accident, he said.

"Continental is coordinating assistance for passengers who need help dealing with this tragedy," Kellner said. "Continental's Employee Assistance Program team is also flying to El Paso to meet with employees."

He said the incident occurred during a maintenance check in preparation for the plane's departure.

A spokeswoman for Boeing said Monday's incident is not the first such accident. "It doesn't happen very often," spokeswoman Liz Verdier said. "It has happened in the past."

Either way, she said, the responsibility lies with Continental: "The airlines are responsible for their safety procedures."

The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team of investigators from its office in Denver, Colorado, Herwig said.
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www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/16/airplane.fatality/index.html
 
Its not going to be an easy one to explain - kids today eh?:

Boy admits stabbing mom 111 times

Mom discovered him trying to learn how to make a bomb

Friday, February 10, 2006; Posted: 3:53 p.m. EST (20:53 GMT)


PONTIAC, Michigan (AP) -- A 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty Friday to murdering his mother by stabbing her 111 times last year after she discovered he was trying to learn how to make a bomb.

Under a deal with prosecutors, Christopher Dankovich agreed to serve up to 34 years in prison.

"He didn't want to leave prison in a casket," prosecutor Lisa Ortlieb Gorcyca said.

Had he been convicted of first-degree murder, Dankovich would have faced a mandatory life term.

Dankovich was 15 when his mother, Diane Michele, 50, was found dead last spring in her home in Rochester Hills, just north of Detroit. The teen was arrested later that day at his family's cabin in St. Helen, more than 100 miles away.

Sentencing was scheduled for March 6.

Defense attorney Mitchell Ribitwer said there was never any question that Dankovich had killed his mother, though there were questions regarding his mental health and whether he could be held responsible.

"The family desired that the matter be resolved without a trial," Ribitwer said. "There's been enough trauma, misery and anguish already."

-------------
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
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www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/10/mom.stabbed.ap/index.html
 
This sounds suspicious to me...

LINK
Man Dies Under Six Flags Coaster

Reported By: Duffie Dixon

OSHA is investigating a deadly accident at Six Flags Over Georgia. It happened on Monday afternoon when a painter, doing maintenance work fell into a frigid pond. There are all sorts of improvements going on at the Austell amusement park, as they get ready to open for their 2006 season just a few short weeks from now.

A 25-year-old contract worker was using a pontoon boat on a shallow pond to paint the lower portion of the Ninja roller coaster. A railing on the boat gave way, and the worker fell in. Another employee tried to rescue him but couldn’t. Cobb County emergency crews were called in, but by the time firefighters found the victim, he’d been underwater almost 30 minutes.

Monday’s incident is not the first deadly accident at the popular amusement park. Two years ago, a Six Flags employee wandered underneath the Batman roller coaster, and was killed when a rider’s leg stuck the man. OSHA is investigating the accident. Six Flags officials are referring all inquiries to the company who employed the contractor, Benise Dowling. Benise Dowling officials were unavailable for comment on Monday evening.
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Teen rocker bounces off bed, falls to death

Reuters News Service

SINGAPORE - A teenage guitarist got so carried away while bouncing up and down on his bed mimicking a rock star that he flew out of a third floor window to his death, a Singapore newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Straits Times said Li Xiao Meng, a 16-year-old from China who was studying at Singapore's Hua Business School, was a keen musician who liked to jump up and down while playing his guitar in his hostel room.

"But on November 17 he took things a bit too far," the newspaper said, reporting on a coroner's court findings.

Ruling death by misadventure, the court said evidence "points to the deceased unintentionally falling out of the window to his death when he was hyped up with exhilaration, jumping up and down on the bed placed against an open window while mimicking a rock guitarist.'"'

Normally the windows were locked, the newspaper said, but students sometimes forced them open so they could smoke, something prohibited by the hostel.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/biz ... 80063.html
 
I just read that and was going to post it - I think we've all done this without thinking about it :shock:

At least he avoided the extra embarassment of having been playing the tennis racket just beofre the plunge.
 
I'll post this without any comment, God knows, herself is standing behind me as I type, sniggering loudly & making her own comments:-


Anderson Woman Charged With Killing Man With Vacuum Cleaner.


ANDERSON, S.C. -- An Anderson man is dead after being strangled with a vacuum cleaner hose, and his common-law wife is charged with his murder.

Anderson County Sheriff's deputies said they received the call at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

A spokesman for the sheriff's office said Evelyn Pressley admitted to killing Jerome Powers.

Deputies said Pressley beat and strangled Powers with vacuum cleaner accessories.

Deputies said the couple lived together on Bellhaven Road in Anderson for about eight years.

Pressley is being held in the Anderson County detention center Monday. An autopsy was planned.

Source:- http://www.wyff4.com/news/7501397/detail.html
 
with vacuum cleaner accessories
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Embarrassing enough to have been killed with a vacuum cleaner in the first place, but that adds a particularly sick edge to it

An autopsy was planned.
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Well I'm guessing they'll find he died from being attacked with a vacuum cleaner (& accessories)
 
How many more must die before people learn???

March 8, 2006, 12:21AM

Father and Son Die in Manure Pond at Dairy

By JULIANA BARBASSA Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

GRANGEVILLE, Calif. — A dairy worker and his 8-year-old son died in a manure pit on the farm where they lived, authorities said Tuesday.

Luis Gutierrez, 27, and Luis Armando Gutierrez went to feed calves Saturday night and apparently stumbled upon the manure pit in the dark, investigators said.

Footsteps near the edge of the 10-foot deep pit seem to suggest one of them fell in, said Kings County Sheriff Allan McClain.

"We could see the dad seemed to be doing what he could to reach his son," McClain said. "But this stuff ... if you step in, it sucks you in."

When Gutierrez and his son didn't return, family members called the dairy's owners and the sheriff's department for help.

Investigators found Luis Gutierrez's stalled pickup with its hood up. They said the Gutierrezes probably got out of the truck and tried to take a shortcut home.

The dairy's owners dredged the cement-lined holding pond that collects rainwater and manure running from the farm, and the bodies were pulled from it early Sunday, McClain said.

The 8-year-old was the oldest of four children Luis Gutierrez had with his 22-year-old wife, Maria.

The county coroner is still working on the autopsy, but investigators don't suspect foul play. McClain said the pair may have drowned in the thick, foul-smelling sludge. It's also possible they were overwhelmed with noxious gases emanating from the mixture.

The state's workplace safety office is investigating the incident, Cal-OSHA spokesman Dean Fryer said.
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www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3708593.html
 
Woman Shot After Bailing Out Man

MACON, Ga. (AP) -- A man has been accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend less than two hours after she bailed him out of jail, authorities said.

Laquandra "Molly" Coker, 23, who was pronounced dead early Thursday, got into an argument with Nathan Rayford after a woman called asking for him, police said. Police said Rayford, also 23, tried to leave and packed his belongings into a relative's car. But the argument continued and Rayford got a gun and shot Coker, police said.

Rayford, who is now charged with murder, was previously held on marijuana possession and obstruction charges, officials said. Macon police spokeswoman Melanie Hofman said Rayford ran from police and fought them Wednesday afternoon before his earlier arrest.

Versie Elder, Coker's mother, said her daughter dated Rayford for a year and that she was not aware of any problems with the couple. "Nobody ever knows what goes on behind closed doors," Elder said. "As far as we knew, he was a nice, hardworking person."
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LINK
 
Mighty_Emperor said:
More kite festival deaths:

Last Update: Monday, February 7, 2005. 9:46am (AEDT)

Thirteen killed, 500 injured in Pakistan kite-flying festival

Thirteen people have been killed and more than 500 injured during an annual kite-flying festival in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, officials said.


....
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Source
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www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 085#497085

And more:

Deadly kites banned in Pakistan city

Friday 10 March 2006, 11:55 Makka Time, 8:55 GMT



Authorities in the Pakistani city of Lahore have banned kite flying after strings laced with glass powder killed seven people, including two children, ahead of an annual festival.

The ban was announced late on Thursday three days after a stray string - covered with a glass powder paste - slit the throat of a four-year-old boy as he passed through an upscale neighbourhood on his father's motorcycle.

Some kite fliers reinforce their strings with wire or ground glass so that they can duel against other kites. When strings cross in the congested sky, the winner cuts loose the opponent's kite.

The bleeding boy, Shayan Ahmad, collapsed and died in the lap of his father before he could be taken to hospital.

The tragedy brought the death toll from such incidents to seven in the past two weeks. Politicians and human rights activists had been calling for a ban on a kite-flying festival planned for Sunday.

Immediate ban

The provincial government in Lahore announced on Thursday night that the ban on kite-flying was immediate and that violators would be arrested.

Ahmad's father Mohammed Rizwan welcomed the ban.

"I saw my son dying helplessly," Rizwan said. "My son's death has ruined my life."

The festival, Basant, marks the arrival of spring, and during the two days of festivities the sky is covered with thousands of kites.

However, the use of dangerous strings has turned the centuries-old pastime into a deadly sport.

All seven people killed recently were riding on motorcycles, says the Lahore police chief, Khwaja Khalid Farooq.

"We are doing our best to control the sale and manufacturing of glass and chemical coated strings. We have arrested 1100 people since 5 March for selling or using prohibited material in the kite flying," he added.
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http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ ... 29CCC2.htm

Serious buisness!!
 
From BBC Scotland :

Piper punched and kicked to death

The High Court in Edinburgh heard of a sustained attack on Mr Mearing
A piper killed a fellow band member in an attack after criticising his playing during a competition.
Keith Drysdale, 38, punched, kicked and hurled a chair at James Mearing during a band practice in the Pipe Room at Redford Barracks, Edinburgh, last May.

Mr Mearing, 51, died in hospital three days later from a brain haemorrhage.

Drysdale, of Parkhead Loan, Edinburgh, was originally charged with murder, but the Crown accepted his guilty plea to a reduced charge of culpable homicide.


Advocate depute Neil Beardmore told the High Court in Edinburgh: "This is a tragic case, in which Mr Mearing was the victim of a sustained attack.

"The accused had opportunities to walk away but returned to continue the assault."

Mr Mearing, a former civil servant, had a lifelong interest in playing the bagpipes and was well-known in piping circles, the court heard.

He had started his own business playing at weddings and other events and also busked in Edinburgh city centre where he was regarded as "a semi-permanent fixture" in the Princes Street area.

The court heard that both men were guest pipers with a Territorial Army band, the 71st Royal Engineers Pipe Band.

Witnesses describe the accused as acting as the aggressor throughout this incident. Band members state that he worked himself into a frenzy

Advocate depute Neil Beardmore

Mr Beardmore said that on 28 May the two men played with the band at a competition at Bathgate, in West Lothian, but its placing was "disappointing".

He said: "The deceased acknowledged that this was in part due to his own misplaying, which he in turn blamed on the cold in his fingers and the medication he was on."

The advocate depute said it was "widely known in the band" that Mr Mearing suffered from a heart condition and was being treated for high blood pressure.

At the following midweek practice session, an argument developed and Drysdale attacked Mr Mearing, grabbing him as he sat and punching him forcefully in the face.

Mr Beardmore said: "Witnesses describe the accused as acting as the aggressor throughout this incident. Band members state that he worked himself into a frenzy."

The judge, Lord Hodge, deferred sentence on Drysdale for the preparation of a background report.
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Gruesome jail death inquiry call
A solicitor has called for a public inquiry into events surrounding a Hannibal Lecter-style killing of a prisoner by his cellmate.
The call comes a day after six warders won over £1m in compensation for witnessing the aftermath of the attack.

Inmate Jason Ricketts killed and mutilated his cellmate Colin Bloomfield in Cardiff prison in 2000.

The warder's solicitor, Frank Rogers, said there were mistakes made in placing Ricketts in a shared cell.

Mr Rogers told BBC News: "This man had been diagnosed as suffering a permanently incurable mental illness and yet he was left in prison and put in a shared cell.

"There is a broader issue of how the prison service deals with mentally disordered offenders who are known to be violent."

He said the scene the six men - Darren Godbear, 44, Nigel Thomas, 47, Michael Wakeham, 46, Gerald Williams, 58, Paul Evans, 38, and Alan Hunt, 42 - witnessed was "way beyond the experience of any prison officer".


They had arrived to find Mr Bloomfield's body cut open, with organs mutilated, and the cell covered in blood.

A convicted burglar, Ricketts, from Caerphilly, who was 29 at the time, had crafted a plastic spoon with a razor blade embedded in it and sharpened the handle of a toothbrush especially for the killing in April 2000.

It was later revealed that he had strangled Colin Bloomfield, 35, from Newport, before attacking him as he lay on the lower bunk of the cell.

Ricketts pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, claiming a man in white in the corner of his cell had ordered him to do it. He was sent to Ashworth secure psychiatric unit for an unlimited time.

'Mentally ill'

The warders involved are said to be still receiving medical treatment after witnessing the aftermath of the killing. Three of them still work at Cardiff jail but have limited contact with inmates.

"They were exposed to a scene of absolute horror when they entered this cell," Mr Rogers said.

"They were left to strip search this men and they were then left -which I think was a callous disregard to their well-being - to finish their shifts for the rest of the night in blood-soaked uniforms." On Wednesday, the Home Office agreed to the compensation after a hearing with High Court judge Mr Justice Field.

Nigel Cooksley QC, representing the officers, said: "On the night of the killing warder Nigel Thomas attended Ricketts' cell. When he saw Bloomfield he called for assistance and the five others came.

"They did not know what they were going to see and went in tentatively with their staves drawn. What they saw caused them all psychological injuries."

"One of them was obliged to attempt resuscitation on Bloomfield despite his obvious death," he added.


The horror scene that greeted the prison warders was not what they were employed to do and that the six years it had taken for the matter to be resolved had seriously exacerbated their mental condition.

Andy Bell, from the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, said while such incidents were extremely unusual, the treatment of inmates with mental health problems was a real issue in the prison service.

"In principle, they should be in NHS facilities because that is where the care and treatment is the most appropriate," he told BBC News.

"Prison is not an appropriate place for people with severe mental health problems.

"It can take many months to transfer someone from prison to an NHS facility so it's taking far too long to get people out, to get them somewhere they can get the proper treatment.

"It's reckoned that something like nine-tenths of people in prison have mental health problems of one sort or another."


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/wales/4811158.stm

Published: 2006/03/16 08:12:30 GMT

© BBC MMVI
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Here's one from a while ago:

A narcotics traffic stop on the Downtown Connector turned deadly Saturday afternoon when a man climbed over the interstate railing, fell about 35 feet and was decapitated on a wrought-iron fence, Atlanta police said.

Officers in a marked car stopped the man about 4:30 p.m., as he drove south on the interstate above Auburn Avenue. The man, who has not been identified, stopped his vehicle and tried to flee by climbing over the railing, Lt. Danny Agan said.

Police still are investigating whether the man jumped or fell off the raised interstate.

"This is a new one for me in 29 years," Agan said.

The decapitation shocked people who work in the neighborhood. Gary White, an income tax preparer, came out of his office when he heard the commotion. "It's surreal," White said.

Agan said narcotics officers had been trailing the man for much of the day.

Agan did not know if the officers who tried to arrest the man would be placed on administrative leave. "This is not something normally covered under the [standard operating procedure] of the department," he said.

Origins: The item quoted above, about a man who was decapitated when he climbed over the railing of an interstate highway while fleeing police and fell onto a wrought-iron fence, describes a real incident that took place in Atlanta on the afternoon 15 February 2003. (The text was taken verbatim from an article which appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the following day.) Several members of the Atlanta Fire Department who responded to the call verified that the pictures displayed above were indeed taken at the scene of the incident.


Warning: The photos are graphic.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/decapitate.asp
 
LINK
Police: Woman Self-Aborted Fetuses
Provided by: The Associated Press

ROME, Ga. (AP) -- Rome police said today they believe a woman self-aborted two fetuses found in a storage shed. Sarah Jo Warner Izard is part of an ongoing investigation stemming from the discovery of two fetuses. Police issued a statement today saying she told someone she had been pregnant in 2001 and 2002 and performed abortions herself.

The person then called the sheriff's department in Bay County, Florida, which contacted police in Rome. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Crime Lab in the Atlanta area determined yesterday that the fetuses were human in a preliminary examination.

The police statement says Rome police will consult with the Floyd County District Attorneys Office once the final crime lab report is received to determine what criminal charges -- if any -- will be brought against Izard.

She is the wife of former Berry College basketball coach Jim Izard -- whose death on February 28th has been ruled a suicide.

The Izards lived in Rome for two years when Jim Izard coached the Berry College women's basketball team. He resigned in January 2005 and moved to Rosemary Beach, Florida, where he committed suicide.
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Woman suffocated by plate

Associated Press

SPENCER, Wis. — A woman apparently suffocated when a decorative plate shaped like an Easter bunny was shoved down her throat, authorities said. Her husband has been charged with murder.

Patrick Zurkowski, 38, was charged Monday with homicide in the death of June Zurkowski, 40.

An autopsy found pieces of the plate broke off and lodged in the woman's throat, prosecutor Ken Heimerman said.

A criminal complaint said Patrick Zurkowski initially told police he was hit by his wife and acted in self-defense. He was being held on $1 million bail.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled April 5.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/biz ... 56198.html
 
A sad reflection on society all round, this one:
Woman's body in bedsit for years

A woman's remains were found surrounded by unopened Christmas presents in a London bedsit two years after she is thought to have died, an inquest heard.
The TV and heating were still on when housing officers discovered the body of Joyce Vincent, 40, in her living room.

They had gone to the flat - a refuge for victims of domestic violence - to investigate thousands in rent arrears.

Police believe she died of natural causes probably in December 2003 and an inquest recorded an open verdict.

Some of Ms Vincent's relatives, including her sisters, attended the inquest at Hornsey Coroner's Court, held by Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker.

Dental records

Ms Vincent's body, found in January this year at the flat in Wood Green, north London, was so decomposed that the only way to identify her was to compare dental records with a holiday photograph.

A spokesman for the coroner said she had apparently been placed in the women's refuge accommodation as a victim of domestic violence.

When staff from the Metropolitan Housing Trust (MHT) arrived at the flat on 25 January they drilled the door open and discovered piles of mail - some marked February 2003 - plus medication and food with February 2003 expiry dates, the spokesman said.

Pathologist Dr Simon Poole told the inquest he had been unable to establish the cause of death because the remains were "largely skeletal", but police did not regard the circumstances as suspicious.

MHT issued a statement which read: "Ms Vincent moved into the property, which is general needs rented accommodation, in February 2003.

"Housing benefit was in part paying Ms Vincent's rent, therefore, given her age, there was no reason to suspect anything unusual had happened.

"During this period our records show MHT were not contacted by neighbours or family to raise any concerns and so we were only alerted when significant arrears built up and we tried to gain access."

The flat is part of a complex build above a shopping complex in Wood Green. Neighbours told the Guardian newspaper whenever they knocked at the door, no-one answered, so they assumed it was unoccupied.

No family shock

Michael Dobbs, who moved in in summer 2004 said: "I always thought it was an empty house. It's a shock to think that she had family and nobody came.

"It's also a puzzle how her electricity was not cut off because her TV was on all this time.

He told the paper it was a noisy building frequented by drug addicts, which could explain why no-one noticed the noise from the TV.

He said he had discovered someone dead, clutching a bottle of drink, in the lift weeks ago.

"I did notice a kind of rotten smell but the bins downstairs are strong and the stairwells smell with junkies.

"I did get a few bugs coming into my house so I had to keep the windows closed."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4906992.stm
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A similar case here... :(

Body lay in house for three years

Police in Cornwall say a woman found dead in an empty house may have lain undiscovered for three years.

Officers say the death of Sally Shearing, who was in her 50s, is not thought to suspicious. She was identified through dental records.

Her body was found at Trelawney House in Church Street, Liskeard. Neighbours say it had been empty for some time.

The exact date of her death is not known but the last confirmed sighting of her was in January 2003.

Police investigators are keen to speak to anyone who knew Mrs Shearing in order to build up a picture of her lifestyle prior to her death.

She lived at Tremayne House at Cannon Hill and her body was found in the basement of the adjoining Trelawney House.

Mrs Shearing's home is thought to have had a right of way through the cellar of Trelawney House, an area she is reported to have used as a store.

Four people arrested in connection with a parallel investigation involving the same house were bailed on Wednesday.


Story from BBC NEWS:

Published: 2006/04/14 10:47:56 GMT

© BBC MMVI
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Final Destination?

Man Nearly Decapitated In Downtown Elevator Accident

Police Continue To Investiage

POSTED: 8:26 am EDT April 13, 2006
UPDATED: 7:11 pm EDT April 13, 2006

PITTSBURGH -- Police are investigating a fatal elevator accident in downtown Pittsburgh Thursday morning.

It happened on the 7th floor of a building along First Avenue and Try Street around 8 a.m.

Police said James Neely, 44, of Bellevue, was waiting for a freight elevator and peered through a window into the shaft when the elevator struck him in the head, nearly decapitating him.

The victim was employed by Mariani and Richards as a subcontractor for the Massaro Corporation.

Watch Channel 11 and refresh this page for updates.

Copyright 2006 by Wpxi.com.
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www.wpxi.com/news/8664534/detail.html
 
From the front page:

Man killed in cigarette accident

A hospital patient being treated with a flammable gel for a skin condition has died after being engulfed in flames as he lit a cigarette.
It is believed the 60-year-old was smoking on a fire escape at Doncaster Royal Infirmary on Monday.

He was taken to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield with serious burns but later died.

The hospital is not releasing details, but said: "This is a tragic event. Our hearts go out to his family."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sout ... 918538.stm
 
Woman killed with microwave:

Police: Woman Beaten To Death For Not Heating Boyfriend's Sandwiches

POSTED: 12:07 am EDT April 18, 2006
UPDATED: 9:44 am EDT April 18, 2006
A man in Uniontown, Pa., was arrested for allegedly beating his girlfriend to death with a microwave oven after she refused to heat up sandwiches for him, according to a Local 6 News report Monday.
IMAGES: More strange stories, images
Walter S. Fordyce, 58, told police that he began arguing with his live-in girlfriend, Mary McCann, 58, at a home in Uniontown
After throwing her to the floor, Fordyce threw a microwave oven onto McCann's chest after she refused to heat up sandwiches for him, he told police.
Fordyce also said he stomped on McCann's chest repeatedly then banged her head on the floor until she lost consciousness -- but he also said he didn't mean to kill her, police said.
"It was an accident. I didn't do it on purpose," Fordyce said, according to police.
Fordyce ran to a neighbor's house for help, but couldn't find anyone there to call 911, police said. After returning home and checking McCann for a pulse -- and finding none -- he went downstairs and drank a beer before going to another neighbor's home and asking them to call 911, police said.
Autopsy results were not immediately available.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
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http://www.local6.com/news/8784272/detail.html
 
Another horror:
Landlady dies after volcano fall

A pub landlady died after falling into a volcanic pool full of boiling liquid in the Azores, an inquest heard.
Gillian Blann, 58, from Edge Hill, Warwickshire, stepped back and fell into the pool as she tried to take a picture of her husband John.

Mrs Blann, who had been on a sight-seeing trip, suffered second degree burns to 90% of her body and died later from sepsis.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded at an inquest on Thursday.

The couple, who were licensees of the Castle Inn in Edge Hill, took the trip because Mr Blann had recently undergone a heart bypass, the inquest at Leamington Spa Town Hall was told.

A written statement from the 64-year-old, who was at the inquest, was read out by coroner Michael Coker.

On 9 April last year the couple were four days into a holiday in Ponta Delgada when they joined an excursion into the Furnas mountain region.

He explained he had been posing for a holiday picture when his wife slipped backwards into one of the boiling calderas, or hot pools.

"The mountain region was volcanic with many unguarded water geysers and bubbling pools of lava. The bubbling lava was extremely hot in temperature," he said.

"We were standing near to three or four bubbling pools. I was stood to the side of one and my wife Gillian was photographing me. Suddenly we were engulfed by a large sulphur cloud. I could not see anything and then I heard my wife shout 'John'.

"When the cloud lifted a few seconds later, I found my wife clinging onto the side of one of the volcanic pools. She was fully immersed and we pulled her out. She was talking quite coherently and had her faculties."

Mr Blann said that, although his wife was badly burnt, he did not think at that time that her injuries were life threatening.

He added: "Bottles of cold water were poured over my wife to take the stinging out of the burns."

Two firefighters gave Mrs Blann first aid before she was taken to a small hospital further down the mountain and then air-lifted to the burns unit of the San Jose Hospital in Lisbon.

Mr Blann said: "She was still comprehensive and talking to me. She told me off for staring at her. By now I was realising that I may lose my wife."

Court documents from Portugal read out by the coroner said there was no indication of foul play and that Mrs Blann's death was purely accidental. Mr Coker said he agreed with the Portuguese authorities.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cove ... 927502.stm
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Death by alarm-clock? Or by the anti-depressants which should not have been prescribed? Or just by extreme exhaustion? Adds up to Natural Causes apparently. :(


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4955634.stm

Nurse 'shocked to death' by alarm

Lisa Browne died suddenly in her bed in 1998

A nurse died from heart failure brought on by the shock of her alarm clock going off, an inquest has heard.

Lisa Browne, who was originally from Stoke-on-Trent, died suddenly in her bed in 1998. She was 27.

An initial inquest was unable to determine the cause of death. Experts later found she had a heart disorder.

Her family, from Flintshire, called for a fresh inquest. Cheshire Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.

Heart specialists in London, who investigated the case last year, confirmed the paediatric nurse was suffering from Long QT Syndrome.

The rare condition affects the electrical system of the heart which can cause sudden unexplained death in young people.

The attorney general ordered a fresh inquest and the original verdict, given in August 1998, to be quashed.

I'm satisfied now from the totality of the evidence that the cause of Lisa's death has been found and diagnosed

The inquest at Warrington on Friday was told Mrs Browne was unaware she suffered from the condition.

The court heard that the nurse, who worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital, suffered from extreme exhaustion in the last three years of her life.

She complained on a number of occasions to her GP, who prescribed her a low dose of an antidepressant which she took for a few months from October 1996.

The antidepressant should not be taken by anyone suffering from Long QT syndrome, the inquest heard.

Mrs Browne's husband Stuart, 38, from Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, told the inquest he found his wife dead in bed at around 0700 GMT on 10 January 1998 after she failed to wake up for work.

Cardiac expert Dr Elijah Behr, from St George's Hospital in London, concluded the alarm clock shocked her to death.

He said: "Lisa Browne died suddenly in bed, probably after her alarm went off, waking her suddenly."

Coroner Mr Rheinberg said: "I'm satisfied now from the totality of the evidence that the cause of Lisa's death has been found and diagnosed. My formal verdict is that Lisa Jane Browne died from natural causes."

The nurse's mother Doreen Harley, from Connah's Quay, has always suspected her daughter died of the hereditary disorder and campaigned for the inquest into her death to be reopened.

The nurse's mother, Doreen Harley, campaigned for a second inquest

Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Harley said she hoped her eight-year battle to discover the real cause of her daughter's death would help save the lives of others.

Following Lisa's death, it was discovered that her father Terry, 61, her sister Rachel, 33, and her nephews Jack, 9, and Adam, 6, all had the Long QT Syndrome.

They have all received treatment and are living normal lives.

Mrs Harley called on the government to provide screening for young people to diagnose heart problems.

She said: "Long QT Syndrome has affected five members of our family over three generations.

"An ECG test could well have saved Lisa's life.

"All of the causes of sudden young cardiac death, many of which are genetic, are treatable once diagnosed and most people are able to live a relatively normal life." :(
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Sticking your head in the oven was always thought a tad nancified, so here's a blokey - but it has to said exhibitionist - ending-it-all method. At least by chucking off his helmet and cutting the strings himself, he seems to have avoided the prolonged inquiries of the Hilder case. Taking the De Quincey line of aesthetical appreciation, it is bound to lose marks for seeming derivative. I'd give it only five out of ten for machismo - the ne plus ultra in that matter still seems to me to be the Scots laddie who hammered a dozen nails into his own head as a protest against unemployment in the Thatcher years. I do wonder about that bill for the lessons. Do they make sure payment is upfront or will it be addressed to his executors?


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story ... 59,00.html

Skydiver killed after cutting parachute cord cords

· Death of first-time jumper is apparent suicide
· 27-year-old 'acted normally' before leap

Alex Kumi
Monday May 1, 2006
The Guardian


A skydiver embarking on his first jump apparently killed himself at the weekend by cutting his parachute lines as he fell, it emerged yesterday.

Police sealed off a field next to Old Buckenham airfield, near Attleborough, Norfolk, where the 27-year-old London man was pronounced dead after falling to the ground on Saturday afternoon.

The skydiver is understood to have been acting normally when he leapt from a light aircraft at 3,500ft. But as soon as his parachute opened he removed his helmet and sliced through the cords with a sharp implement thought to be scissors or secateurs.

The man, who has not been named, died of multiple injuries on hitting the ground.

"Police did initial investigations into the circumstances and then deemed that it was not a suspicious incident," said a Norfolk police spokeswoman. "We are not looking for anyone else in connection with the inquiry. The coroner will begin an investigation in due course."

The British Parachute Association, the sport's governing body, said it would investigate the death. Jason Thompson, chief instructor at UK Parachuting, said the man had "appeared fit enough" and "there was nothing to indicate he had any problems at all".

"I didn't have any part in his training - but apparently he was just a normal sort of student. If we had been unhappy with his mental state we would not have allowed him to go up. His parachute deployed normally and people on the ground only realised something was wrong when he took off his helmet and discarded it.

"He must have planned to kill himself in this way. People on the ground were aware of the situation as he was doing it - but there was nothing they could do."

The dead man had paid £175 to take part in a beginner's course at the airfield, during which he was trained to use a modern square parachute that first-time jumpers can easily steer.

During seven hours of training last month he was taught how to exit an aircraft, control a parachute and land safely.

Mr Thompson confirmed that the death was the first serious incident involving UK Parachuting since the company moved to Old Buckenham airfield in 1999. The firm, which has been operating for 23 years, was previously based at Ipswich airport, Suffolk.

The incident bore echoes of the case of Stephen Hilder, a skydiver who plunged to his death in 2003. Police concluded that Mr Hilder, 20, cut his own straps after parachute fibres were discovered on scissors in his car. Amid initial fears that the parachute had been sabotaged, Mr Hilder's two jump partners were arrested but later told they were no longer suspects and were released without charge. :(
 
Prolific egg thief dies in 40ft fall from tree
By Alan Hamilton

BRITAIN’S most notorious illegal collector of rare birds’ eggs has fallen to his death after losing his footing as he climbed a tree in a Yorkshire wood.

Colin Watson, 63, a father of three from Selby, was three-quarters of the way up a 40ft larch near Campsall, Doncaster, when he slipped and fell.

It is not known which species he was hoping to add to his collection that proved his downfall. His family said last night that he had climbed the tree only to take photographs. But to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Watson was public enemy No 1. He had a string of convictions spanning 14 years for an activity that has been illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act since 1981. He last appeared in court ten years ago.

The former power station worker travelled the country in search of additions to his collection. He is believed to have specialised in the eggs of birds of prey and rare crows. The height of his infamy was when he travelled to Loch Garten in Scotland and took a chainsaw to a tree that contained the nest — and probably the eggs — of an osprey.

After a raid on his home in 1985, the RSPB found more than 2,200 eggs in his house and in that of his disabled son. Specimens included golden eagle, osprey, sparrowhawk and red kite. The society confiscated most of them.

Brought before Selby magistrates in April 1985, charged with illegally possessing the collection, Watson claimed that all but 16 of his eggs had been collected before the introduction of the 1981 Act that banned the practice.

He was still found guilty and fined £1,700 after the court doubted whether the data cards he produced listing the date and place of each egg’s collection were genuine. He successfully appealed, but did not get his collection back.

Graham Madge, of the RSPB, said: “He was more than a little bit of a nuisance to us. He had been an active collector for many years. There are a number of very eager egg collectors and he was one of them; they target the nests of some of the most rare breeding birds and steal their eggs. This is a tragic incident and we would not have wanted him to end his career in such a terrible way.”

South Yorkshire Police said that there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the fall. The coroner has been informed and an inquest will be held.

WATSON'S RECORD

1980, Inverness Taking golden eagle eggs. Fined £400


1982, Shap Disturbance of peregrine falcons. Fined £250


1985, Selby Possession of eggs. Fined £1,700


1988, Perth Possesion of equipment capable of committing an offence and attempting to take golden eagle eggs. Fined £2,000


1990, Lerwick Possession of equipment capable of committing an offence and possession of two snipe eggs. Fined £1,300

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 06,00.html
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Skydiver killed in mid-air collision
By Gerard Couzens and Devika Bhat

A WORLD record-breaking parachutist died after she collided with her best friend in a mid-air accident, watched by their boyfriends on the ground.
Tamsin Causer, 32, was knocked unconscious after hitting her head against Maria Russell’s knee, seconds after opening her parachute. She drowned after falling into the sea. Maria, 27, landed in a campsite and was last night being treated in hospital.

The two women were part of a 17-strong group performing a formation jump above the town of Empuriabrava, near Girona in northeast Spain, just after midday yesterday.

Tamsin, who lived in Warfield, near Bracknell, Berkshire, and was known as “Taz” to fellow skydivers, had been pursuing work as a stuntwoman.

A spokesman for SkyDive Empuriabrava, which helped to organise the jump, said last night that it was an “absolute tragedy”. He added: “It seems that Maria’s leg accidentally smashed into Tamsin’s head as they opened their parachutes.

“Tamsin was knocked unconscious, and drifted towards the sea before landing in the water. We believe she drowned while she was still unconscious.

“Maria is uninjured but in a terrible state of shock and is being monitored in hospital. Their boyfriends were on the ground, watching at the time. I can’t imagine what Tamsin’s boyfriend is going through, let alone Maria.”

Tamsin’s body was recovered from the Mediterranean by members of the parachute team, who tried in vain to revive her.

A spokesman for the Mossos d’Esquadra, the area’s police force, said: “We are still investigating but everything at this stage is pointing towards a tragic accident.”

Both women were experienced parachutists, and each had made more than 900 jumps.

Ms Causer, who was born in Karachi, Pakistan, was renowned in the skydiving community after she became the first person to hold four world records simultaneously. A marketing development manager, she had achieved all three in the same year. She gained her first record in September last year as part of a team of 151 women, who broke the record for the largest formation dive. They also raised £500,000 for charity.

Two months later she was part of the team that claimed the record for canopy formation, after 84 jumpers linked up in mid-air. In Thailand in February, Ms Causer took part in a 400-strong for-mation attempt, which was held as part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.

Her final record was gained three days later, when she joined 959 other jumpers in an unlinked freefall, to coincide with the opening of an airport in Bangkok. According to her biography, published on a cancer charity website, for which she raised thousands of pounds, her hobbies included kickboxing, horse riding, skiing, fencing, motorbiking, trampolining and scuba diving.

As well as pursuing her dream of becoming a stuntwoman, she had been working for OKI Printers Europe.

In an interview with the Maidenhead Advertiser in February, Ms Causer said that she was often joined on jumps by her partner, Gavin McLeod. Speaking to the paper after she achieved her fourth record, she said: “I’m spent — no more records for me for a while now. I am the only person in the whole world to hold so many skydiving records.”

No one at her family home could be contacted last night.
Chris Needles, of the United States Parachute Association, told The Times that Ms Causer’s world records were a remarkable feat. He added that she would be greatly missed.



DEADLY HOBBY

David Crowcroft, 27, committed suicide this month by cutting the cord to his parachute while in mid-air. His parents said he had “gone through some problems”

Stephen Hilder, 20, died after his main and reserve chutes were sabotaged before a skydiving competition in north Lincolnshire in July 2003

Alastair McLaren, 39, fell 2,500 ft to his death during a routine jump at an airfield in Scotland in May 2004. He sent a text message to his former girlfriend beforehand, telling her not to feel guilty

An unnamed British woman fell 14,000 ft to her death while taking part in a nine-way formation near Melbourne in Australia in March 2004. Her main parachute became tangled with the emergency chute


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 65,00.html
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Couple Shot Dead Over Sex In Field


Updated: 12:56, Tuesday May 30, 2006

A man and a woman have been killed after they were seen having sex in a field in Pakistan.

Three men shot the couple when they were spotted in an "objectionable condition" before dawn in a tribal village in southern Pakistan.

The 33-year old man, Hadi Bakhsh Buledi, and the 25-year-old woman, identified only as Raji, both died at the scene.

Police official Abdul Majeed Abro said both victims were married to other people.

Abro said it was a case of "karo-kari", referring to the custom of killing adulterers.

He confirmed they were looking for three men and Raji's husband in connection with the killings.

Last year 563 married women, 75 unmarried women, 373 men and six children were victims of so-called honour killings in Pakistan, according to women's rights group Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid.
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www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,70131-13526191,00.html
 
Taiwanese man spends three months in net cafe

By Lester Haines

Published Monday 5th June 2006 14:56 GMT

A Taiwanese man who spent three months in an internet cafe following a row with his missus finally succumbed to a fatal combination of fatigue, lack of sleep, cigarette smoke, and instant noodles last week when he suffered a heart attack, according to Dutch news site NRC.

Hsu Tai-yang, 37, turned up at the RS Cyber Cafe in Tamsu, close to Taipei, on 8 March. According to the cafe's owner, he camped out there until his untimely demise because he "didn't want to go home", as the unnamed proprietor explained to China Times.

Hsu passed the time playing video games, smoking, chewing betel nuts and scoffing aforementioned instant noodles, before complaining of breathing difficulties and shortly thereafter popping his clogs.

theregister.co.uk
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The wurst way to go?

Fri Jun 9, 6:38 AM ET

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German police have arrested a man on suspicion of murdering a woman with a sausage.


Prosecutors and police said the 50-year-old was arrested after the woman's body was discovered in an apartment in Zwickau, eastern Germany. They said she had choked on a Bockwurst, a popular large German sausage.

The prosecutors said the man had given a patchy account of events, acknowledging that he may have "administered" a Bockwurst to the woman. They are now working to establish exactly what happened in the run up to her death.
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