Q and A: Can My Serial Killer Make His Victims Float Face-up?

Q: My serial killer has predilections that make him want his (female) victims to float face up when they are found. He strangles them and then places them in the water, so they don’t actually die of drowning. Would plugging the throat or taping the mouth and nose shut (so air stays in the lungs) be a good way for him to achieve this effect? What else might work?

S.K. Davenport, Pittsburgh, PA

A: Plugging the throat or taping the mouth and nose would make little difference since there is not enough air in the lungs to cause a body to float. Virtually all bodies sink when first tossed into water. This is not absolutely universal as sometimes clothing can gather air and keep the victim afloat but for the most part they sink. They do not float again until the decay process has progressed to the point that gases have collected within the abdomen and the tissues and the body becomes buoyant. Most bodies float facedown for a very simple reason–the arms and the legs tend to fall in that direction rather than backwards so their weight keeps the body face down.

In order to make the body float he would have to do something to increase the rate of decay and since this is predominantly temperature dependent it would be best if the body was placed in warm water such as a heated pool, a Jacuzzi, or a swamp in Louisiana. Alternatively–and this is over-the-top sinister–he could inject air into the victims abdomen and chest and even the tissues of the legs and arms. If he injected enough the body would float immediately. In order to keep the body on its back, he would have to apply weights of some type that would weigh down the backside of the corpse. Maybe some large fishhooks placed deeply into the flesh and muscles with weights attached. Just a diabolical thought.

 

Q and A: Can a Murder Be Staged to Look Like an Accidental Death from Autoerotic Asphyxia?

Q: I am currently working on a book that centers on a murder staged to look like an accidental death by autoerotic strangulation. Obviously the victim (who is a large man) needs to be incapacitated to the point where he is either unconscious or offers no resistance. The killer is unknown to the victim and not in a position to tamper with his food or drink, but by masquerading as a janitor he is able to get physically close. He is also able to obtain just about anything he’d need to get the job done.

Would Rohypnol do the trick? Can it be injected? Is there anything else you can think of that would serve?

A: Autoerotic asphyxia is the use of partial strangulation as part of masturbatory fantasies. Erotic asphyxia is where one partner partially strangles the other during sexual activity. The “kick” seems to be that the anoxia (decrease in blood, and thus oxygen supply, to the brain) is supposed to enhance the experience. This is also very dangerous and can lead to death or permanent brain injury. Most people believe that strangulation leads to loss of consciousness and death by preventing the victim from breathing. Not so. Strangulation compresses and obstructs the carotid arteries. These are the arteries on either side of the neck that carry blood from the heart to the brain. This is why strangulation can lead to loss of consciousness in a few seconds and death in less than a minute while you can hold your breath for 2 or 3 minutes if necessary. In the later, the oxygen content of the blood gradually declines while with occlusion of the carotid arteries the blood supply to the brain is abruptly interrupted. This makes erotic asphyxia, auto or otherwise, a very dangerous game. The victim often underestimates his capacity to stay conscious and once consciousness is lost, he can no longer save himself by releasing the rope, etc. Or his partner miscalculates when to release the pressure. Death follows.

Since you want the death to look like an accidental strangulation and since the ME can most often determine if strangulation has occurred, you would want the “actual cause of death” to be strangulation. If the killer were strong enough he could simply loop a rope around the victim’s neck, strangle him to death, and then “stage” the autoerotic scene. This is clean and simple and requires no other equipment and no chemicals. From your question, I get the impression that this would not work for you.

So, your killer must incapacitate the victim, strangle him, and then set the scene. Yes, Rohypnol would work as would GHB and Ecstasy. These are all given orally but have no flavor or odor and could easily be placed into water or any other liquid. Again, you don’t want this for your scenario so that brings us to an injectable sedative. I’m assuming that you have worked out a method for your killer to sneak up on the victim and quickly inject him with the drug (not that easy to do) and if so drugs such as Ativan, Versed, or Ketamine would fit your needs. Ketamine is currently a hot item on the Rave and drug abuse scene and is often stolen from vet clinics–often at gunpoint–since it is a useful animal anesthetic. It is an injectable liquid, but kids dry the liquid by heating it, leaving behind a white powder, which they then snort. Go figure.

All the above mentioned injectable drugs are rapid acting sedatives and if given in large enough doses could take the victim down in a very few minutes. He would become disoriented and confused, then unconscious. Your killer could then do his dirty work. One problem could arise however. These drugs are powerful sedatives and anesthetics and your victim could stop breathing. Here the cause of death would not be strangulation, which is a problem for your killer. There is a way around this however. If the victim stopped breathing, your killer would need to strangle him immediately. Why? If he dies of chemical asphyxia (stops breathing due to chemical sedation) there would not be the characteristic neck bruises that the coroner would look for to conclude the death was due to strangulation. Once the heart stops, the blood clots in the blood vessels very quickly and bruising is no longer possible. This means that strangling the victim after death would not leave bruises. If the victim stopped breathing, he would be alive for several minutes so if your killer then strangled him quickly, the characteristic bruising would be present and the ME might conclude that the victim died from an accidental autoerotic strangulation.

One important point is that the killer should use the same rope to strangle as he uses to “stage” the autoerotic death. Manual strangulation with his hands or with a rope of a different size and pattern might leave behind bruise patterns that were different than expected and these findings might tip off the ME that something was amiss.

Of course, the coroner could test for Ketamine or any other drug and would find it if he looked for it. He might not but even if he does a sophisticated toxicological evaluation might take days or weeks to perform. This could give your killer the time he needs to disappear, if that’s his plan. Also, the ME could locate the injection site on the corpse and maybe even test the tissues in the area and find a high concentration of whichever drug was injected. For these reasons, I would suggest that you find a way to use one of the oral drugs. People often use Ecstasy and GHB and other sedatives as part of their sexual activities so the finding of these drugs in the victim could be considered part of his thing. The injectable drugs would not fit this scenario and would raise an eyebrow or two. And as I said, it isn’t easy to stab someone with a needle, and hold it in place long enough to depress the plunger on the syringe and inject the medication. Possible, just difficult.

 

Question and Answer: What Happens When Someone Is Hanged?

Q: I’ve got a couple of questions about hanging. I have a 140-pound man of slight build who has been hanged. His neck is not broken and thus he is strangling. His hands are bound. How long might he survive before death? Would he lose consciousness well before or shortly before death? If he is taken down before death, we would certainly see abrasion of the neck. What else would we see? If unconscious, would he revive quickly? Could his injuries be life-threatening? (I’m thinking of throat swelling here) I am looking at pre-modern society here. No ER or modern medicine.

A: In hangings, death results from asphyxia, which is the reduction of oxygen to the brain. Asphyxia in hangings results from the compression of the airways and the carotid arteries (the arteries on either side of the neck that carry blood to the brain) by a noose or other ligature that is pulled tight by the body weight. Thus, the victim must be completely or partially suspended.

 

Though the airway can be compressed and breathing can be interrupted, the real cause of loss of consciousness and death in most hangings is compression of the carotid arteries, which blocks blood flow to the brain. Except for judicial (legally directed) hangings, fractures of the cervical vertebrae (spinal bones of the neck) are uncommon. The reason is that these fractures require that the body drop a sufficient distance to break them. How far is this? The answer depends upon several factors. Individuals who are obese, have small neck musculature, or who have arthritis of the cervical spine may suffer neck fractures quite easily. Just the opposite is true for muscular, thick-necked persons. In judicial hangings, these factors are considered in gauging the distance of the drop. Too little drop and the condemned person is strangled to death, too far and he could be decapitated.

The neck markings seen after hanging depends mainly on the nature of the noose used. Soft nooses such as sheets may leave little of no markings. Bruises and abrasions are not common with softer devices. In fact, if the victim uses a soft noose and if the body is discovered fairly quickly and cut down, the ME may not be able to find any marks at all. A rope or cord may leave a very deep, distinct furrow in the victim’s neck. The longer the body hangs, the deeper the furrow. Abrasions and contusions are more common with these types of nooses. Occasionally the furrow and any associated bruising may reveal the braid pattern of a rope or the link configuration of a chain.

In hangings, the furrow and the bruising will follow a typical course. The pattern is that of an inverted V. The furrow tends to be diagonal across the neck with its high end where the knot is located. The knot is usually to one side. This means that if the knot is to the victim’s left side, the furrow will be lower on the neck and much deeper on the right side and will angle upward toward the left ear. Near the knot, the furrow may shallow and disappear. This pattern is due to the body hanging by the “bottom” of the nose.

Okay, enough about hangings, let’s get to your situation. Since the asphyxia is due to compression of the arteries and not the prevention of breathing, loss of consciousness occurs very quickly, usually in a minute or less and maybe as short as 20 seconds. The brain needs a continuous supply of blood and when this is interrupted, consciousness is lost quickly. Death may take from 1 to 5 or 6 minutes.

If your victim is found within 2 to 3 minutes, he would be unconscious but could wake up fairly quickly—a couple of minutes. Or not. Some people die in a minute while others can take many minutes. Go with a couple of minutes but not longer and you’ll be OK. He would probably have the typical V-shaped bruises on his neck and a furrow that would resolve over a half hour or so.

He could return completely to normal or be left with brain damage or even remain in a coma for hours, days, weeks, months, years, or forever. It all depends upon how long the brain was deprived of blood and luck. This varies from person to person.

 

Question and Answer: Can Carbon Monoxide Cartridges be Used as a Method of Murder?

Q: My victim is in a locked room with one small window in an abandoned warehouse and is being slowly killed by carbon monoxide fumes from little cartridges that are timed to activate at certain intervals. There is also a booby trapped bomb in a briefcase in the same room, which will be detonated when the levels of carbon monoxide are high enough. How long would it take the victim to fall unconscious? Is it possible to ignite a bombs fuse with this gas? If it is possible, and the victim is rescued before the bomb detonates would they be able to recover completely from carbon monoxide poisoning and how long does recovery take?

A: First of all, carbon monoxide will not explode nor does it readily burn so using it as a fuse or as an explosive material isn’t a possibility. You could have a carbon monoxide detector on the bomb that would ignite when a certain level was reached so in this regard it could be viewed as a fuse of sorts.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is stealthy, treacherous, and deadly. It’s also common. You’ve seen it in the papers or on the news. A family is found dead and the cause is a faulty heater or fireplace. A suicide victim is found in his garage with the car engine running. Campers are found dead in a tent, a kerosene lantern burning in one corner. Each of these is due to carbon monoxide.

CO is a tasteless, odorless, colorless gas that is completely undetectable by humans. It results from the incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels—paper, wood, gasoline, and many other combustible products. Faulty stoves, heaters, and fireplaces as well as the exhaust from a car engine can fill the air with CO. Carbon monoxide poisoning is a more common cause of death in fires than is the fire itself. In your scenario, you supply the CO via cartridges so none of this is needed in your story, but this may be part of the investigation as to why the victim had CO toxicity—-if the cartridges aren’t found, etc.

Carbon Monoxide’s treachery lies in its great affinity for hemoglobin, the oxygen (O2) carrying molecule within our red blood cells (RBCs). When inhaled, CO binds to hemoglobin producing carboxyhemoglobin. It does so 300 times more readily than does oxygen and thus displaces oxygen. In other words, if the hemoglobin is presented with both oxygen and carbon monoxide it is 300 times more likely to combine with the CO. The result is that the blood that leaves the lungs and heads toward the body is rich in CO (carboxyhemoglobin) and poor in 02 (oxyhemaglobin).

This strong affinity of hemoglobin for CO means that very high blood levels can occur by breathing air that contains only small amounts of CO. For example, breathing air that contains a carbon monoxide level as low as 0.2 % may lead to blood CO saturations greater than 60% after only 30 to 45 minutes. So, a faulty heater or smoldering fire that produces only a small amount of CO becomes increasingly deadly with each passing minute.

This powerful attraction for hemoglobin explains how certain individuals succumb to CO poisoning in open areas. Most people believe that CO is only toxic if it is in an enclosed area, but this is simply not true. There have been cases of individuals dying while working on their car in an open area, such as a driveway. Typically the victim is found lying near the car’s exhaust. Similarly, the newly recognized problem of CO poisoning in swimmers and water skiers, who loiter near a dive platform on the back of a powerboat whose engine is at idle, is another example of this affinity.

The degree of exposure to CO is typically measured by determining the percent of the hemoglobin that is carboxyhemoglobin. The signs and symptoms of CO toxicity correlate with these levels. The normal level is 1 to 3%, but may be as high as 7 to 10% in smokers. At levels of 10 to 20%, headache and a poor ability to concentrate on complex tasks occur. Between 30 and 40%, headaches become severe and throbbing and nausea, vomiting, faintness, and lethargy appear. Pulse and breathing rates will increase noticeably. Between 40 and 60% the victim will become confused, disoriented, weak, and will display extremely poor coordination. Above 60% coma and death are likely. These are general ranges, but the actual effect of rising CO levels varies from person to person.

In the elderly and those with heart or lung disease, levels as low as 20 percent may be lethal. Victims of car exhaust suicide or those that die from fire in an enclosed room may reach 90 percent.

Carboxyhemoglobin is bright red in color and imparts this hue to the blood. When the ME performs an autopsy and sees bright cherry-red blood, he will suspect CO poisoning as the cause of death. This finding does not absolutely specific since cyanide inhalation or ingestion can also result in bright cherry red blood and tissues. Also, individuals dying from cold exposure or corpses exposed to very low temperatures may show bright red blood. Livor mortis in these situations may also be red or pink in color.

At autopsy, the internal organs in victims of CO intoxication are also bright red. Interestingly, this color does not fade with embalming or when samples taken by the ME are fixed in formaldehyde as part of the preparation of microscopic slides.

Individuals who survive CO intoxication may have serious long-term health problems. The brain is particularly vulnerable since it is extremely sensitive to oxygen lack. Symptoms and signs of brain injury can begin immediately or be delayed for several days or weeks. The most common after effects include chronic headaches, memory loss, blindness, confusion, disorientation, poor coordination, and hallucinations. The ME may be asked to evaluate a living victim in this situation if the exposure was due to a criminal act or if a civil lawsuit is involved.

Your victim would become sleepy, confused, disoriented, clumsy, and develop headaches as the level of CO in his body rose. He would finally lapse into a coma and would die if not rescued in time. Treatment is simply to remove him from the area and given him oxygen by way of a face mask and oxygen tank. If he is to be OK it should only take a few minutes to an hour to recover. He might then be normal or have any of the above long-term problems.

 

Games Children Play: The Choking Game, The Pass Out Game

Remember all the young and stupid things you did when you were young and stupid? Jumping off the garage with a pillowcase parachute? Swinging off a tree limb into the creek or pond without first testing the depth of the water? Building a ramp to jump over on your bicycle? Taking a ride while clinging to a car front fender? We all did these things yet somehow survived. Unfortunately young Brandon Stine didn’t.

There seems to be a game going around among children Brandon’s age, which was 11 at the time of his death. It goes by many names: the Choking Game, the Fainting Game, the Pass Out Game, Tap Out, Hangman, Elevator, and a few others. The goal is to lose consciousness. I remember in grammar school a similar game came around. The person would take 20 deep breaths and blow on their thumb and immediately become dizzy and lose consciousness. I never played this game but I saw it on several occasions. Somehow losing consciousness wasn’t very appealing to me. And of course now that I know the physiology behind it, it is not only unappealing it is frightening.

The current games are played two ways. The first is easy to understand and the second requires a little more complex physiology.

One form is simply to choke the victim until he loses consciousness. This is basically the choke hold police sometimes employ to control combative suspects. The purpose is to block blood flow to the brain by compressing the carotid arteries. This results in low oxygen levels in the brain, which in turn leads to loss of consciousness. It can also lead to death.

The second form results from self-induced hypocapnia. Hypocapnia is simply a big word for low carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the blood.

The human body guards a handful of things very jealously. Some of these are the oxygen, CO2, and pH of the blood. The pH is a measure of the balance between acid and base (alkalinity) in the blood.

When oxygen levels are low, the brain sends out signals that increase the rate and depth of breathing as well as the heart rate and blood pressure. This brings more oxygen into the lungs and increases its transportation by way of the cardiovascular system to the body. When the level of oxygen in the blood is very high the exact opposite happens in that breathing will slow since there is no physiologic need to move more air.

Carbon dioxide works the same way, only in reverse. If the carbon dioxide levels are high, breathing will increase to “blow off” this extra CO2, which is an acid. Since CO2 is removed from the body through the lungs any increase in breathing rate and depth will remove more CO2 from the body and the acid-base balance (the pH) will be restored. If the CO2 is very low, this drive to breathe is suppressed so that more CO2 will accumulate within the blood and again restore the pH balance.

High CO2 levels elevate the amount of acid in the blood and this is reflected in a falling pH level. The lower the pH the more acidic the body is. A low pH adds to the drive to breathe more rapidly so that the CO2 level will drop and the excess acid is removed in this way. When the CO2 level drops, the pH rises and the drive to breathe is suppressed.

This is a thumbnail and does not take into consideration the many other derangements within the body that can alter the pH level.

In summary, a low oxygen level, a high CO2 level, and a low pH (excess acid in the system) tend to increase breathing so that more oxygen is supplied and more CO2 is removed from the body. When the oxygen level is high, the CO2 level is low, and the pH is elevated (excess alkalinity in the system) the driving force to breathe is suppressed.

When someone purposely hyperventilates by breathing rapidly and deeply for a minute or so they are increasing their oxygen and pH levels while lowering their CO2 levels. This in turn suppresses the need to breathe. This can lead to a period of slow or absent respiration, which tends to continue slightly longer than is needed. This overshoot is part of virtually all biological feedback systems. This can result in a rapid drop in blood oxygen levels to the point that the victim loses consciousness.

This drop in blood oxygen level is more dramatic and more rapid than is the restoration of normal CO2 levels that would accompany a cessation of breathing. This means that by the time the CO2 levels reach a point where they again drive respirations, the oxygen level has fallen very far. This is what leads to loss of consciousness and death. Or perhaps survival with permanent brain damage.

An identical situation arises when someone attempts an underwater swim across a pool. Or a free diver attempts to go to very great depths on a single breath. In each of these situations the person hyperventilates before taking the plunge and in so doing creates a situation where they could lose consciousness and drown during the swim or the descent.

If you, or anyone you know, has children who are playing this game, it’s time to sit down and have a chat. This is basically Russian Roulette where the bullets are the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood.

 

Botox and BioTerrorism

Botulism is the term used to describe poisoning from the toxin produced by a bacterium Clostridium botulinum. This bacterium is in the same family as the one that causes gas gangrene. It’s a nasty little devil. The botulinum organism grows in contaminated food and often appears in contaminated canned goods. The bacterium can grow inside the sealed can because they do not need oxygen to thrive. It is also found in contaminated wounds that are not treated properly or kept clean.

The toxin produced by these bacteria is one of the most deadly toxins known. A few drops could take out an entire room.  A single gram could kill 1000 people; an ounce could kill 30,000 people.

It is classified as a neurological toxin because it interferes with the transmission of signals throughout our nervous system. When exposed the victim will experience some combination of these symptoms: weakness, a staggering gait, paralysis, double vision (which comes from paralysis of the muscles that move and coordinate our eyeballs), abdominal cramping with associated nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath and finally the inability to breathe at all, difficulty swallowing or speaking, and a handful of other pleasant symptoms. Ultimately, the victim will stop breathing and die.

Treatment with an injectable botulinus antitoxin must occur quickly if the victim is to survive. The antitoxin binds with the toxin and makes it ineffective by preventing it from attacking the nerves. If not given fairly quickly, the individual will die from asphyxia as the muscles needed for breathing become paralyzed.

Now there are concerns that this might become a bioterrorism weapon. It is ideally suited for this since a very small amount placed in food or water or sprayed over a group of individuals could prove deadly to a large number of people in a very short period time. In its pure form it makes anthrax seem small potatoes.

There are legitimate medical uses for this toxin, beside cosmetic ones, but there are very few companies that manufacture it for these purposes. But recent reports indicate that several independent manufacturers around the world are also producing Botox and if they are able to produce this more dilute form, they might also be able to produce a purer form of the toxin. Since such small amounts are needed to produce mass casualties, this could pose a serious public risk as it could easily be smuggled across borders and even sent by the mail.

JAMA Article
New Scientist Article

Newser Article

Google Health Article

Wikipedia Article

 

Spelunking Death: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Spelunking, or caving, is a popular but dangerous sport. I’ve been in caves before and they’re fairly spooky places. As a kid I went on several trips where we were taken deep into one cave or another. Each was dark, cold, musty, and left you with a feeling that the real world was far away. I grew up in Huntsville Alabama, a city spread over hundreds of caves. In 1805 the city was founded by John Hunt after he camped near where water rose from one of these caves to create the Big Spring. Big Spring Park, where I played many Little League baseball games, remains a focal point in Huntsville.

North Alabama, with its ubiquitous limestone, is the ideal area for cave formation. As the water seeps into and eats away the limestone, caves of varied sizes and shapes are produced, including the famous Cathedral Caverns near Woodville. So caving is a popular sport in the area. So much so that there is a volunteer organization known as the Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit.

This week a tragic caving accident occurred near Salt Lake City Utah. Twenty-six year old John Jones, an experienced spelunker, became wedged head-down in a very tight space and could not be rescued. After 28 hours he died. Because of the danger and difficulty in recovering his body, efforts to remove it have been abandoned and the cave known as Nutty Putty will be closed so that John Jones’ final resting place cannot be disturbed.

How did this tragedy happen? What caused Mr. Jones’ death?

It seems that he, along with 11 friends, all experienced cavers, entered the cave last Tuesday. Jones, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 190 pounds, a medical student at the University of Virginia, a husband, and the father of an eight-month-old, was attempting to slip through an area known as Bob’s Push, a narrowing that measured only 18 inches wide and 10 inches high. He apparently became wedged in a head-down position and could not free himself.

As many as 50 rescue workers began their efforts to free him at approximately 9 p.m. and over the next 28 hours worked frantically. At one point they managed to pull him back some 12 feet, accomplishing this with the use of a pulley system that was anchored to the ceiling of the cave. They managed to get him some food and water but then the pulley system failed and he slid back into the crevice. apparently wedging him in even tighter than before. His condition rapidly deteriorated and he died after some 28 hours.

What actually caused the death of John Jones may never be known, but there are several possible mechanisms that could have come into play.

Hypothermia: This is a significant and dangerous drop in the core body temperature and is a well known cause of death in people with prolonged exposure to cold environments. Since this is November and the cave is located near Salt Lake City, the temperature and conditions inside the cave could easily have caused hypothermia in John Jones. He was apparently some 700 feet from the cave’s entrance and approximately 150 feet below ground at the time he became trapped. It is likely the cave was cold and damp so that as time went by his body lost heat. With no way to protect him from this environment he could easily have slipped into hypothermia and died from this alone.

Asphyxiation: Another possibility is that his death was due to asphyxia. The mechanism for this would be similar to how a boa constrictor works. When a boa wraps around its prey, it contracts its muscles and traps the prey in its coils. Each time the prey exhales and its chest becomes smaller, the boa clamps down a little tighter. Breath by breath it compresses the chest to the point that the prey can no longer inhale because it can no longer expand its chest. Death is then due to asphyxia.

This easily could’ve happened to the victim of this accident. Each time he exhaled, his chest becoming smaller, he might have slipped a little deeper into this trap. With each breath the space became more constricting until he could no longer expand his chest and asphyxia resulted.

Aspiration: It’s possible that aspiration of stomach contents could also have occurred. Since he was in a head down position anything that exited his stomach could easily be inhaled into his lungs and this could also lead to death from asphyxia. This might be particularly true since at one point during the rescue he was free enough to be given food and water. Then when he slipped back into the crevice, he could have vomited and aspirated his stomach contents.

Doesn’t it seem like the worst and most unexpected tragedies occur around holidays and this one is no different. It seems that John Jones not only left behind a wife, a young child, and a grieving family, but apparently also an unborn child. And all the day before Thanksgiving. Some things just don’t make sense.

Fox 13 Story

CS Monitor Story

KDKA Story

 

Soyuz 11: An Asphyxial Tragedy

Space exploration is risky. Very risky. We all remember the two shuttle disasters:  Challenger (STS-51) on January 28, 1986 and Columbia (STS-107) on February 1, 2003. For a boy who grew up in Huntsville Alabama with the space program in his backyard, these tragedies hit very close to home. Much of the shuttle was built at Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center near in my hometown. In fact, throughout my life I have followed the space program very closely.

I met Werner von Braun on many occasions, the first being when I was in the 5th grade. I remember the ground shaking his rocket testing caused, interrupting baseball games and other activities. I was at the launch of Apollo 11, July 16, 1969 at 9:32 AM. I remember it like yesterday. And then on December 9, 2006, Nan and I attended the nighttime launch of the Discovery (STS-116) spacecraft as guest of NASA. It was also a great experience and the launch was breathtaking. For me, besides the launch itself, the highlight of that visit back to Cape Canaveral was meeting Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon. He served as Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 14, and flew along with Commander Alan Shepard, one of the original 7 astronauts, and Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa. Mitchell and Shepherd stepped on the moon on February 5, 1971.

This Apollo 14 flight was the next in line after the near disaster of Apollo 13. That was an incredible adventure where James Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise were nearly lost in space. I remember the city of Huntsville basically shutting down as every scientist in the area moved out to Marshall and worked around the clock, frantically attempting to jury-rig the space craft and bring the three astronauts safely home. Fortunately, they succeeded.

Apollo 13, the movie about this journey, followed the actual events almost to the letter. Many years ago I met Ron Howard at the then Maui Writers Conference. I thanked him for doing the story straight up and not turning it into some Hollywood bastardization of a truly heroic event. Interestingly, he said that the studios actually did try to change the story but that he and Tom Hanks stood firm and demanded that the script follow the reality. I thank Ron Howard for that to this day. If you’ve never seen this movie, you should.

But earlier in the space program there were also disasters for both us and the Russians. I vividly remember Apollo 1, where Virgil “Gus” Grissom, also one of the original 7 astronauts, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee perished in a capsule fire. This was severely damaging the space program and almost derailed JFK’s promise of putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade. But during those times NASA was invincible and pressed on. Few people realize that the Apollo 1 disaster took place on January 27, 1967, a scant 2 1/2 years before Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. Heady times and great memories.

 

Caylee Anthony Autopsy Released

The autopsy report on the death of little Caylee Anthony was released this week. It is both interesting and disturbing. It showed:

No evidence of trauma–one speculation was that Caylee might have been killed by trauma, either intentional or accidental.

No drugs of any kind–another speculation was that the child might have been sedated and that the death was due to an overdose, again either accidental or intentional.

Several layers of duct tape were wrapped around Caylee’s mouth and face and it appears these might have been placed before of just after death. Could this have been to silence her? Could she have suffocated from the tape? Very disturbing thoughts.

The chemical analysis of the air in Casey’s (Caylee’s mother) car  trunk revealed 80 chemicals associated with body decomposition. In this test, air samples are taken from the trunk and subjected to various chemical analyses, the most important being chromatography, a test that can separate a chemical mixture and identify many of the components. If a decomposing corpse had been in the trunk, molecules of the gases produced would permeate the trunk carpeting. These would remain after the corpse was removed and would then be slowly released into the trunk space. Sampling and testing the air would then reveal whatever chemicals were present–in this case the chemicals associated with decomposition.

Autopsy of Caylee Marie Released: Be sure and read the autopsy and forensic reports linked to in this article. This will give you an idea of just how detailed these reports are.

Caylee Anthony: Autopsy Suggests She ‘Suffered Tremendously’

Caylee Anthony’s Mother Casey in Court

 

Autoerotic Asphyxia Redux: David Carradine ?

In a rather creepy turn of events, a couple of days after I read an article on and then blogged about autoerotic asphyxia, I learn of the tragic death of actor David Carradine. Apparently he was found in his Bangkok hotel room by the service staff. He was nude, and hanging from a rod in the closet. One story suggested that not only did he have a cord wrapped around his neck but also one around his genitals and apparently the two were tied together somehow. Was this a suicidal hanging or an accidental death during autoerotic activities?

Had there just been the neck cord then a suicidal evident would be likely, but when you add the other cord to the scenario, it suggests that this just might have been an accidental autoerotic asphyxiation. As I said in my previous post, it is very easy to make a mistake such as this because the cord around the neck will collapse the carotid arteries, greatly diminishing blood supply to the brain, which can lead to loss of consciousness very quickly. Once unconscious, the victim can no longer save himself and death follows very quickly.

We still do not know exactly what happened since the information is coming out in bits and pieces. We will have to wait for the medical examiner’s final statement to know what the cause and manner of death actually was and whether there was any autoerotic activity involved. Either way it’s a tragedy. Though I have seen him in many movies and television shows he will always be the peaceful warrior Kwai Chang Caine to me.

LA Times Story

AP/Excite Story

AP/Yahoo Story