Felled by a bounding deodand, his hideously mangled corse was found beside a ditch
Interesting that many of them note the value of the physical objects involved. "A man, died 1312, by falling from a haystack. Price of the stack, 11s."
John de Thorpe, drowned in 1322 when thrown in tempestuous waters from his boat, the "Dongbot"
Laydeez.
5 3 has added value. 11 shillings to be precise.
6 made me laugh out loud. These really are fascinating. Thanks, werdna!
3 was making it explicit, for those of us who forgot what "deodand" meant (i.e., me.)
But I'm wondering how that worked in practice. "In 1300, Richard le Brewere, overcome with drink, fell down the stairs while carrying a bag of malt. The step was valued at 2s." How does one assign value to a single step, separate from the stairs which contain it and give it its usefulness? Or even if we take "step" to refer to the entire set of stairs, how is their value separable from the property of which they are an integral part?
"William Scrym, died 1382, fell from a tree attempting to overthrow a nest of magpies"
Vive la revolution!
"Henry de Stodley, died 1346, being very drunk, stumbled into his chamber and fell upon a bare knife, which cut his throat."
Sounds very suspicious.
Come on, JM, you don't think that happens all the time?? (That one jumped out at me too.)
Presume you to missay the sworn officers of the hundred, they that risk their souls for the realm, or the righteoushead of the crowner?
Buck up and mine contemporary murder reports for humor, you pansies.
In the realm of modern weird deaths (hard for this one to be funny), the PD here says on the 19th a man ran from a traffic stop and was found half an hour later unconscious and wedged into a 12-inch space between two buildings; he was dead on arrival at a hospital.
13: Florida Man Dies After Strapping Fireworks to Head on Fourth of July
AHMEMSAHIB, the case my parents worked on together involved a hunter who died when, according to his buddy, the two of them had been drinking and throwing around an axe which landed blade-up behind a chair; the deceased then sat in the chair and, being drunk, fell over backwards, and, as luck would have it, landed with the back of his head directly on the axe.
"The last case my parents worked on together"
Your parents were very good at making a hit look like an accident.
Jesus's parents were Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James.
It hadn't occurred to me before, but that case neatly bookended my mother's career. The first time she was invited to be an expert witness, an experience which led her from clinical to forensic pathology, the case involved a couple of guys who were getting wasted out in the woods; one OD'd and his friend freaked out and buried him without confirming first that he was dead. IIRC, he was acquitted.
3. 11s sounds like a fairly expensive haystack at a date when £50 pa. was regarded as enough to maintain the dignity of a knight.
8: Don't ask me why, and I went looking with no success, but I vaguely remembered something and think the "step" refers to the "bag of malt"
Does "rhotic" mean "Blazing Saddles."?
What caught my eye was the way that this guy also callded himself "Tygre" -- so who among us is John de Eddeworth and John de Shordych (an early Hyppstere?)?
22: And in between was the case where two hunters were drinking in a cabin when Hunter #1 collapses and looks to be dead. In a panic Hunter #2 calls 911.
.
Hunter #2: "Help! My friend just collapsed and died!"
911 Operator: "First thing, let's make sure he's dead."
Short pause, then gunshot.
Hunter #2: "OK, now what?"