Oversættelse af "Murder or suicide?"

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Murder or suicide?

On March 23, 1994, a medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a gunshot wound of the head caused by a shotgun. Investigation to that point had revealed that the decedent had jumped from the top of a ten-story building with the intent to commit suicide. (He left a note indicating his despondency.) As he passed the 9th floor on the way down, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast through a window, killing him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the decedent was aware that a safety net had been erected at the 8th floor level to protect some window washers, and that the decedent would most likely not have been able to complete his intent to commit suicide because of this.

Ordinarily, a person who starts into motion the events with a suicide intent ultimately commits suicide even though the mechanism might be not what he intended. That he was shot on the way to certain death nine stories below probably would not change his mode of death from suicide to homicide, but the fact that his suicide intent would not have been achieved under any circumstance caused the medical examiner to feel that he had homicide on his hands.

Further investigation led to the discovery that the room on the 9th floor from whence the shotgun blast emanated was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. He was threatening her with the shotgun because of an interspousal spat and became so upset that he could not hold the shotgun straight. Therefore, when he pulled the trigger, he completely missed his wife, and the pellets went through the window, striking the decedent.

When one intends to kill subject A but kills subject B in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject B. The old man was confronted with this conclusion, but both he and his wife were adamant in stating that neither knew that the shotgun was loaded. It was the longtime habit of the old man to threaten his wife with an unloaded shotgun. He had no intent to murder her; therefore, the killing of the decedent appeared then to be accident. That is, the gun had been accidentally loaded.

But further investigation turned up a witness that their son was seen loading the shotgun approximately six weeks prior to the fatal accident. That investigation showed that the mother (the old lady) had cut off her son's financial support, and her son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that the father would shoot his mother. 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, one Ronald Opus, had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to get his mother murdered. This led him to jump off the ten-story building on March 23, only to be killed by a shotgun blast through a 9th story window.

The medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.

Mord eller selvmord?

Den 23. marts 1994 betragtede en prosektor kroppen af Ronald Opus og konkluderede, at han døde af et skudsår i hovedet forårsaget af et haglgevær. Efterforskningen til dette punkt havde afsløret, at afdøde var sprunget fra toppen af en ti-etagers bygning med hensigten at begå selvmord. (Han forlod et brev, der indikerer hans mismod.) Da han passerede 9. etage på vej ned, blev hans liv imidlertid afbrudt af et skud fra et haglgevær gennem et vindue, der dræbte ham øjeblikkeligt. Hverken personen, der skød, eller den afdøde var klar over, at et sikkerhedsnet var blevet rejst på 8. etage til at beskytte nogle vinduespudsere, og at den afdøde sandsynligvis ikke ville have været i stand til at gennemføre sin hensigt om at begå selvmord på grund af dette.

Normalt sker der det for en person, der igangsætter begivenheder med intentioner om selvmord, at vedkommende i sidste ende begår selvmord, selvom måden, hvorpå det skulle ske, ikke var, hvad han agtede. At han blev skudt på vej til den visse død ni etager længere nede, ville sikkert ikke ændre dødsårsagen fra selvmord til drab, men det faktum, at hans intention om selvmord ikke ville have opnået under nogen omstændigheder, får retsmedicineren til at føle, at han havde drab på hans hænder.

Yderligere efterforskning førte til den opdagelse, at lejligheden på 9. etage, hvorfra skuddet fra haglgeværet kom, var beboet af en ældre mand og hans kone. Han havde truet hende med et haglgevær på grund af et skænderi og blev så oprørt, at han ikke kunne holde haglgeværet lige. Da han trykkede på aftrækkeren, missede han derfor helt sin kone, og kuglerne gik gennem vinduet og ramte den afdøde.

Når man har til hensigt at dræbe objekt A, men dræber objekt B i forsøget, er man skyldig i mord af objekt B. Den ældre mand blev konfronteret med denne konklusion, men både han og hans kone stod stejlt på, at ingen af dem vidste, at geværet var ladt. Det var den gamle vane om den gamle mand, der truer sin kone med et uladt haglgevær. Han havde ingen intentioner om at myrde hende, og derfor viste drabet af den afdøde sig altså at være en ulykke. Dvs. at geværet var blevet utilsigtet ladt. 

Men ved yderligere efterforskning fandt man et vidne, der havde set ægteparrets søn lade geværet cirka seks uger før den dødelige ulykke. Denne undersøgelse viste, at moderen (den gamle dame) havde afskåret hendes søns økonomisk støtte, og hendes søn, vel vidende farens tilbøjelighed til at bruge haglgevær truende, havde ladt geværet i den forventning, at faderen ville skyde sin mor. Sagen bliver nu et mord af sønnen for Ronald Opus' død.

Nu kommer den udsøgte drejning. Yderligere efterforskning afslørede, at sønnen, en Ronald Opus, var blevet mere og mere fortvivlet over hans forsøg på at få sin mor dræbt. Dette fik ham til at hoppe ud fra en ti-etagers bygning den 23. marts kun for at blive dræbt af et skud fra et haglgevær gennem et vindue på 9. etage.

Retsmedicineren afsluttede sagen som et selvmord.