Suicide Inspired By 'CSI'

Discussion in 'CSI Files News Items' started by CSI Files, Jul 18, 2008.

  1. CSI Files

    CSI Files Captain

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    A man takes his cue from <I>CSI</I>--and his life.<p>A man was found dead along US Route 84 in New Mexico on March 15. The victim, identified as <font color=yellow>Thomas Hickman</font>, had duct tape over his mouth. The death was originally considered a homicide, but something found at the crime scene led investigators to consider another possibility: balloons.<p>Six or seven white balloons were tangled in a cactus about 30 feet away from Hickman's body, tied to a revolver. The gun's grips had been removed, and the trigger guard was sawed off, presumably in an effort to lighten the gun so the balloons could carry it farther away from the body. Metal shavings in Hickman's garage matched the gun.<p>Investigators became aware of a similar story from <I>CSI: Crime Scene Investigation</I>. During the episode <A class="link" HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/episodes/csi/season4/homebodies.shtml">"Homebodies"</a>, a man killed himself and tied the gun to a bunch of balloons in order to make the death look like a suicide. "We're not saying it's a copycat of the TV show," New Mexico state police <font color=yellow>Lt. Rick Anglada</font> told <A class="link" HREF="http://abcnews.go.com/">ABC News</a>. "We have no way to know he actually saw the episode. However, the lead agent kept hearing from people that there was a similar case from <I>CSI</I>."<p>"There were similarities in the episode, where a character did tie helium balloons to a gun and hoped it would float away," Anglada continued. Hickman's death was ultimately ruled a suicide. A single shell casing was found in the revolver, and there was nothing to indicate that the six-foot-six, 260-pound Hickman put up a fight. "There were no signs of a struggle, and he was a large man, not bound in any way," Anglada said. It was discovered that Hickman had a life insurance policy that would pay his wife $388,000 or double that if his death was accidental. "Everything just pointed back to Thomas Hickman killing himself," Anglada said.<p>The original article is from <A class="link" HREF="http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=5392563&page=1">ABC News</a>.<center></center>
     
  2. Drumchik

    Drumchik Captain

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    That's....weird. And slightly creepy.
     
  3. HellsBells

    HellsBells Tormenting Camp Counselors

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    I think this might be a reason why police hate shows like CSI so much. Not only are some procedures portrayed wrong, but things like this can happen.

    Didn't a crime take place last year that followed a CSI: Miami episode?
     
  4. Ceindreadh

    Ceindreadh Pathologist

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    Pish, the CSI plot was borrowed from an Agatha Christie story with Poirot, only IIRC, it was a razor blade used and not a gun (and may have been murder meant to look like suicide)
     
  5. xfcanadian

    xfcanadian Pathologist

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    even if he did get the idea from CSI, he still would have killed himself anyways...
     

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