How not to kill yourself

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

A suicidal man killed himself by handcuffing himself to a tree then throwing away the keys.
Richard Sumner, 47, may have changed his mind during the bizarre suicide but an inquest heard he had thrown the keys too far to reach.
His skeleton was discovered still in the handcuffs after three years by a woman walking her dog in thick woodland.
Home Office pathologist Brian Rogers told an inquest marks on the tree indicated Mr Sumner had probably changed his mind - but could not reach the key. Mr Rogers said: "Clearly he had handcuffed himself to the tree and he had thrown away the key.
"There were deep scuff marks on the tree and the cuff was quite high up on his hand instead of his wrist. It clearly indicated he may have tried hard to free himself."
The skeleton of Mr Sumner, of Crosby, near Liverpool, was found in a remote area of Clocaenog Forest, Denbighshire, in April 2005. His skeleton was 200 yards into the forest found by passer-by Jennifer Houston walking her dogs.
The handcuff keys were several feet away but too far for Sumner to reach while manacled to the tree.

Police at first feared a gangland murder but traced Sumner through a key fob on the keys.

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 10:40 (twenty years ago)

they're sure it's suicide? i mean, can you think of a worse way to die(well, probably you can, but this is pretty horrible).

― N_RQ, Wednesday, 21 September 2005 10:42 (twenty years ago)

Do you have link to this news, because it sounds a bit urban legendish?

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 10:44 (twenty years ago)

Why couldn't he chew off his hand like that mountaineer?

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 10:44 (twenty years ago)

Just took it off the wire. Look out for it in the red-tops tomorrow.

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 10:45 (twenty years ago)

Or, in fact, look just here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4264282.stm

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 10:46 (twenty years ago)

How not to be seen?

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 10:47 (twenty years ago)

how do you handcuff yourself to a tree?

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 10:57 (twenty years ago)

you have to kind of hug it and cuff yr hands i think.

― N_RQ, Wednesday, 21 September 2005 10:59 (twenty years ago)

oh, that would work

I read the story like only one of his hands was cuffed

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 11:01 (twenty years ago)

although, the cuff was quite high up on his hand instead of his wrist does suggest that

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 11:05 (twenty years ago)

That's how I read it too, but I didn't consider the implications.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 11:06 (twenty years ago)

Maybe it was a sapling.

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 11:10 (twenty years ago)

Good lord. I can't imagine how anyone could come up with that idea. But then I'm not suicidal.

― nathalie, a bum like you (stevie nixed), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 11:12 (twenty years ago)

My first thought was that it was probably some sort of pervy self-bondage game gone wrong.

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 11:29 (twenty years ago)

this thread title is misleading.

― petesmith (plsmith), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 12:13 (twenty years ago)

I suppose it could be, though I meant it more as a "This is probably not the best way to kill yourself" kind of thing.

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 12:14 (twenty years ago)

What if you handcuffed yourself and then threw your arms around a young sapling? Plenty of time to change your mind.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 13:05 (twenty years ago)

or you could hang yourself from a higher branch, and dangle.

― suckling pig at a rave (alix), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 13:12 (twenty years ago)

I saw this yesterday. He had a history of mental illness and he'd tried to do exactly the same thing once before.

― Teh HoBB (the pirate king), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 15:04 (twenty years ago)

how not to kill yourself: be easy to insure

― Sébastien Chikara (Sébastien Chikara), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 15:12 (twenty years ago)

Better still, noose around a branch, put your head through it, wait until it grows enough to hang you.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 16:25 (twenty years ago)

lol i love when humans kill them selfs it shows how weak thay really are if i saw him in his larst days and he ask me to free him i would sit down a wach him die and if he dont die quik enoth 4 me i will torment him then kill him very slowly ,and i dont just say this to be a big man on the net i really would do it hell it wouldent matter if it was a old women or a todler iam not a human

― iam a madman, Thursday, 29 September 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

Pretty weak troll overall, 2.3 from me, a staggering 6.8 from the Romanian judge though.

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Thursday, 29 September 2005 14:15 (twenty years ago)

you're not only mad, you also can't schpell. i often wonder how you lot can even find us.

― nathalie, a bum like you (stevie nixed), Thursday, 29 September 2005 14:16 (twenty years ago)

I like the kind of, "I'm mental, me!" attitude, too. I bet you have a plaque on your desk that says, "You don't have to be mad to work here, but it helps".

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Thursday, 29 September 2005 14:18 (twenty years ago)

They don't give you desks at McDonalds though.

― suckling pig at a rave (alix), Thursday, 29 September 2005 14:37 (twenty years ago)

i'm sure that if you tugged hard enough 1 hand at least would come off.

― not-goodwin (not-goodwin), Thursday, 29 September 2005 14:47 (twenty years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.