Easiest Weapon To Accidentally Murder Someone With

I wouldn't consider a gun at all for this situation, because the MC is supposed to kill the person unintentionally. Using a gun, even in a situation like this, would imply intent to injure.

The blow to the chest thing sounds intriguing. If the MC is backed into a corner and strikes out with a foot, his heel could catch the intruder in the chest -- probably a more powerful jolt than from a fist or an arm.

Other than that, yes, a lamp would be a great tool.

Maybe he pushes the intruder and thus he/she falls out the second storey window, breaking his/her neck?

Isn't it also possible to kill someone by hitting them in the nose at an upward angle? I seem to recall hearing that if you get the angle just right, the cartilage will go up into the brain or something.

I'd google it, but I'm at work and I don't want that in my browser history...

Wouldn't it be great..um I mean ironic, if he reaches for say a paperweight or some other heavyish memento that his friend had given him as a gift and knocks him over the head with that? Then the awkward silence, the laughing at their ludicrous behavior, the attacked friend going home and collapsing and dying.. Just a (quite disturbing) thought.

Tazlima said:

Isn't it also possible to kill someone by hitting them in the nose at an upward angle? I seem to recall hearing that if you get the angle just right, the cartilage will go up into the brain or something.

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That's actually a myth, although a pervasive one -- when I was a kid, I was told that by a police officer, if you can believe it.

We're evolved against that possibility. Cartilage << skull, and smashed noses are so common that it would be a significant design flaw if nature had left us susceptible to dying from a broken nose.

jjdebenedictis said:

That's actually a myth, although a pervasive one -- when I was a kid, I was told that by a police officer, if you can believe it.

We're evolved against that possibility. Cartilage << skull, and smashed noses are so common that it would be a significant design flaw if nature had left us susceptible to dying from a broken nose.

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*D'oh!*

That's what I get for posting without researching.

If you want a delayed death, blunt force trauma isn't bad. There are cases in which the person gets checked out in the ED, cleared and sent home, and then dies of an internal bleed. Most ED nurses are pretty savvy about it, but it still gets missed on occasion.

The eyeball thing isn't bad. There are soft points on the skull. Kids, for example, running around with oblong objects in their mouths terrify me. We've seen injuries such that a child falls and then the object (say, a rubber spatula handle...something totally not sharp) jams through the soft palette and into the brain. So, eyeball, due to terrific/terrible accidental aim...could work. There's also a soft spot at the back of the neck where the skull and the spine meet. People falling and impaling themselves on odd things...does happen I suppose, but really that's more of a roof fall thing. Just don't let that impaling happen in the bum region...we never believe you when you say you were cleaning your house naked and happened to jam that special something in there accidentally via a fall...but I digress.

That said, if your protag kills someone by jamming something in the eyeball then tries to say the person tripped and fell onto it...I'm sure doubts will arise. Even if it legitimately does happen that way, doubts will arise.

Go with blunt force trauma. I'm sure playing around with the "I'm ok, just a bump" only to have the protag surprised later when he hears about or discovers the death could work in some cases. Even more believable if he never goes into the ED and gets checked out, instead goes and takes a nap because he "doesn't feel quite right". Could be the guy trips and falls stumbling away from your protag because he's angry, mentally ill, and has a hand raised...and then falls and hits his head on...pick something rock hard and painful.

jjdebenedictis said:

That's actually a myth, although a pervasive one -- when I was a kid, I was told that by a police officer, if you can believe it.

We're evolved against that possibility. Cartilage << skull, and smashed noses are so common that it would be a significant design flaw if nature had left us susceptible to dying from a broken nose.

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The police officer was wrong. This is still taught in martial arts, and it works, but it is very difficult to do because it's essentially two strikes at almost exactly the same time. The strike is both straight in, and upward. There's no way you could die from this accidentally, at least that I know of. The soft spot, the route to the brain, is there. Anyone who examines a skull can see it. There are deadly, brain eating parasites that enter the brain by taking this route.

You wouldn't think nature would let us die by getting water in our noses, either, but it happens often.

Or, put it this way. I'll take the word of a lifelong and extremely highly trained martial arts expert over that of a police officer.

I doubt a teen could do it, though. No simple punch to the nose, or no dozen punches, can do it.

Chumplet said:

I wouldn't consider a gun at all for this situation, because the MC is supposed to kill the person unintentionally. Using a gun, even in a situation like this, would imply intent to injure.

The blow to the chest thing sounds intriguing. If the MC is backed into a corner and strikes out with a foot, his heel could catch the intruder in the chest -- probably a more powerful jolt than from a fist or an arm.

Other than that, yes, a lamp would be a great tool.

Maybe he pushes the intruder and thus he/she falls out the second storey window, breaking his/her neck?

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Hitting someone in the head with a brass bottomed lame is legally the same as shooting them. Both are intent to commit great bodily harm, or intent to kill.

It takes a very light blow to the throat to kill someone by suffocation, and unless the prosecutor can prove the perpetrator has serious martial arts training, the worst that can happen here is voluntary manslaughter, and self-defense is a very likely verdict.

Most movies will have criminals knocking out victims with the butt of their gun but in reality anyone knocked out for longer than a few seconds has been injured severely enough to wake up with brain damage, internal bleeding, and amnesia...

So this can obviously cause more complications than most people realize. Most likely if your MC hit his friend with a lamp or some other item, it would be better than having him accidentally kill him because it would take a few hits to knock someone unconscious, usually, once the attacker realizes pistolwhipping doesnt work like it does in the movies. This would look more like an attempted murder rather than accidental mansluahgter if thats what you are going for.

jjdebenedictis said:

That's actually a myth, although a pervasive one -- when I was a kid, I was told that by a police officer, if you can believe it.

We're evolved against that possibility. Cartilage << skull, and smashed noses are so common that it would be a significant design flaw if nature had left us susceptible to dying from a broken nose.

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It is possible, but very unlikely to happen by accident. There are far more likely ways for a punch or blow to "accidentally" kill someone than this old saw, certainly. I posted a couple links describing real "one punch" deaths up thread.

It sometimes happens that a person has a blow to the head and doesn't lose consciousness, or does so only briefly, and doesn't seek medical aid, then dies later. So they wrestle or scuffle, friend hits head on nightstand. Dies later. All kinds of guilt potential there, for the injury itself and for not insisting friend go to ER. BB is right, though. Murder is never accidental.

I recall reading somewhere (sorry, can't remember where) that a large proportion of knife deaths happen by accident. The perpetrators are often surprised how easy it is for the knife to sink into the human body.

We could have someone accidentally impaled on something.

Apart from that, the eggshell skull seems to be a good candidate. Sometimes someone can be killed with one punch or if they fall and hit their head.

My wife was once trying to teach our son to play golf and stepped a little bit too close as he was taking a swing. I wasn't there at the time, but they tell me that there was a hell of a lot of blood as nine iron connected with head.

Honestly, if he hits hard enough, or makes his friend fall - his fist should be enough. Or a well placed hip. A fall from standing would do it in the right circumstances.

Re the nose - what happens in these circumstances is that the transference of force has pushed the ethmoid bone (the bone that runs down the middle of your nose) through/into the basal plate of the skull. It's unlikely, cause it has to be a punch directly forward from the front, with quite a bit of force, but it does happen. You get interesting bleeding patterns to go with it, and one of the things we check for as paramedics when assessing someone with a frontal strike to the face is CSF leaking out of their nostrils.

I've yet to see it, but it happens enough that it's something we have to account for in assessment.

A fist or an empty glass bottle.

Or perhaps a pillow if wrestling.

A knife. Either a hunting knife in his room, or even a knife that he was using to dig peanut butter out of a jar just before the fight.

A screwdriver would work too.

I'm in the camp of a shove. It is totally believable that if someone feels like they are getting cornered (whether they actually are or not) that they would shove the other person away. That alone doesn't have to even be that hard or with any intention of giving themselves some space. If the shoved person loses their balance or steps awkwardly out of the shove they could easily take a fall that could seriously injure them on any number of things commonly found in a bedroom. A bed post, a dresser, a trophy, a bowling ball in it's bag on the floor. The list can go on. If it's hard and will provide resistance to the falling person they can go down.

Kicking someone with a steel toed boot can be considered a deadly weapon. Heck, depending on the degree of damage dealt, any part of your body can be considered a deadly weapon.

Back of the head, trying to knock them out. Hitting someone in the back of the head is pretty dangerous and potentially lethal.

Or introducing them to your pet ostrich.

Words.

You can kill someone without noticing the body or extent of your work.

I'd just push him out the window and claim he accidentally tripped and fell out.
But I'd also look for something more 'entertaining' as a reader. Something along the lines of the rather bizarre and unbelievable deaths featured in the 'Final Destination' movies for example.

Chumplet said:

I wouldn't consider a gun at all for this situation, because the MC is supposed to kill the person unintentionally. Using a gun, even in a situation like this, would imply intent to injure.

The blow to the chest thing sounds intriguing. If the MC is backed into a corner and strikes out with a foot, his heel could catch the intruder in the chest -- probably a more powerful jolt than from a fist or an arm.

Other than that, yes, a lamp would be a great tool.

Maybe he pushes the intruder and thus he/she falls out the second storey window, breaking his/her neck?

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Just set it in South Africa, and make the MC a famous sportsman.

Jamesaritchie said:

The police officer was wrong. This is still taught in martial arts, and it works, but it is very difficult to do because it's essentially two strikes at almost exactly the same time. The strike is both straight in, and upward. There's no way you could die from this accidentally, at least that I know of. The soft spot, the route to the brain, is there. Anyone who examines a skull can see it. There are deadly, brain eating parasites that enter the brain by taking this route.

You wouldn't think nature would let us die by getting water in our noses, either, but it happens often.

Or, put it this way. I'll take the word of a lifelong and extremely highly trained martial arts expert over that of a police officer.

I doubt a teen could do it, though. No simple punch to the nose, or no dozen punches, can do it.

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I am so confused by this. Because I think jj meant the police officer told her you CAN die from a punch to the nose, and she's disagreeing and saying it's a myth. So it seems like you're agreeing with jj in terms of actual content, but disagreeing in spirit...?

Kaleidoscopes said:

Not sure if this is the right spot for this query, but here goes.
My MC is a mentally ill teenager who was feeling trapped by one of his friends, and so he used something - a common bedroom item, I'm hoping, maybe a lamp - just to hit him with, but he ended up dying.
What would be the best object to use for this?

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Seen some interesting replies and suggestions for what to use in this scenario. Small blunt objects are particularly handy, but the fist-to-chest crowd and the shove-fall crowd both make some very strong points.

As to the debates over whether someone can "accidentally" murder someone... I think a point is being missed. The OP specifically said the MC was mentally ill. That means that their perception of reality is somehow impaired. The other person is their friend and for whatever reason, the MC suddenly feels trapped by the friend.

The MC isn't trying to hurt his friend. Depending on the type of mental illness, the idea of hurting someone may never occur to them. He just wants some space. He needs the friend to back up. That's what pushing or unarmed hitting accomplishes, especially if they trip and fall afterwards. There is zero intent, only panic at the circumstance and an accidental death.

To the OP, I think what you need to consider is:

A) what type or severity of mental illness you're working with to decide how outbursts can be unexpectedly deadly. I read a study a few months ago (wish I could find it) that interviewed attendants that worked at institutes and homes for mentally ill kids. Many of them describe these kids as "little Supermen". A lot of mentally ill persons, particularly if they're reacting to some perceived threat, gain uncanny strength and have no filter to keep them from doing serious damage.

B) What do you want to happen to the MC afterwards? If the plot follows events afterwards and you want the best chance that others will also see that this was an accident (eventually if not immediately) then the punch or push are definitely your best option. If you want more doubt, or you are trying to put the character in jail, or running to stay out of it... then consider a small object. I'd avoid the lamp for the paperweight option. It'd be something the MC already had in his hand before he felt threatened. It's more likely he'd club someone with a bauble he was looking at or a heavy book he was reading (death by family Bible...eek) than to panic, grab the lamp and then hit his friend. His friend is more likely to have time to move if the MC has to grab something, rather than already having something in hand.

Just my thoughts. Hope they help.

I would say the bed itself. Your character could push his friend, who trips or slips on the rug and falls backwards hitting their head/neck in the edge of the bed frame or end board. This could cause a fractured skull or broken neck.

How about stabbing the friend with a pen in the neck and they bleed to death.

What if the friend is deathly allergic to nuts and is accidentally given something with nuts backed in it.
Hope this sparks a few ideas.

Jamesaritchie said:

I guarantee the real number is far, far above 37%, but not in a teen's bedroom. An unloaded gun is just a poor club, and a secured weapon is useless, even for a club. There certainly are some, but I am an expert, and I don't know a single gun owner who doesn't keep a loaded, unsecured handgun in the bedroom.

The number of people buying firearms of all sorts has gone up dramatically in the last six years from fear that a democratic controlled government would place more restrictions on certain types, including handgun.

Teens can legally own a gun, but can't actually buy one until he's eighteen. I started hunting at age seven, and owned my own rifle and shotgun at age eight. I also had full access to a revolver at age ten. This really isn't uncommon, but it is uncommon to have a handgun stored in a teen's bedroom. Technically, it isn't illegal in the majority of states, but it can be used against the parents, should something bad happen, be it accidental or intentional.

The psychological part is difficult. I can't remember a single case of one teenager shooting another in his own home out of fear. We've had a number of accidental shootings, but that's about it.

In most states, you can legally shoot someone for three reasons. 1. If you legitimately feel your life is threatened. 2. If you have reasonable belief that you will suffer severe physical injury. 3. In defense of property.

If this is a gun owning family, it is possible, even likely, that a teen would have a rifle and shotgun in his own bedroom. It's somewhat unlike, but possible, that he would have a handgun.

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We started hunting at the same age.

There are only a few states where protection of property, by itself, is justification for lethal force. Texas is one. Gun laws are all over the map in the US. My wife's and my carry permits are good in 37 states. It requires study when we take a trip. We have both taken several classes and read a number of books related to the rules of engagement for self defense.

I was raised in a hunting family. My Dad carried a concealed gun (.25 caliber Colt vest pocket gun) for a few years because of death threats (when he was a lawyer working for the OPA during WW-II).

I was also in the Army.

My home has lots of guns. Everybody in my family has a concealed carry permit (except the two in California) including the kids who are all moved out and married. The only loaded gun in the house that isn't in a safe is the one on my hip (a SIG C3 as I type this), or my wife's hip when she's packing. The bedside safe which contains two loaded guns is unlocked when we go to bed, locked when we get up. The kids never had guns in their rooms.

A lot of authors get gun stuff totally wrong.

The time (year) makes a difference with regard to the story - so does location. Now, a gun in a kids room, in the city would be rare. Especially in the north east. On a farm, possible, even probably if the kid is eleven (the minimum hunting age in PA) or older.

Back in the day, late 1940s and 1950s I had a .22 rifle (Winchester Model 52 Sporter), a handgun (.22 Colt New Frontier single action) and a shotgun (Fox .410 double) in my room as a kid (I was born in 1942).

My friends had guns in their rooms. We didn't mess with them. We had no curiosity because we all had been taught gun safety - I'd shot all my best friends guns, he'd shot all of mine, when we were out with our fathers. To this day I can't pick up a gun with out habitually checking to be sure it's unloaded even after the clerk in a gun store has just checked it.

During hunting season more than one student car in the parking lot had a deer rifle and ammo in it because we were going hunting after school. Nobody panicked. It was normal.

It would never have occurred to us to shoot a person with one. That was what bad guys did. We weren't bad guys. We didn't want to be bad guys.

We had books, we didn't have TV until I was a senior in HS.

Fitch