Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

Username:
Password:
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

There aren't any users online.

[twisted]

I need help with some of the details in an ice pick murder.

The intended victim lives with their spouse. The killer gains access to their house while they are out, and hides. The couple goes to bed, and the killer waits until they are asleep to strike. The killer uses an ice pick, in the ear, to kill the victim.

I know this method was used by “Murder Inc”.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder,_Inc. An ice pick was stuck in the victim's ear, through the eardrum and into the brain. There was only a small hole, and death appeared to be simply a cerebral haemorrhage.

There are a few thing's I'm unclear about. Presumably the pick would be held up to the ear and pushed hard, rather than a normal stabbing movement; otherwise it would be difficult to hit such a small target. Also, the ear canal is angled and it would require a high degree of precision to avoid striking bone.

I've searched online – everything from Wikipedia to Gray's Anatomy – but I've drawn a blank.

[Mystery Mom]

I don't have any firsthand knowledge (well, obviously!!), but based on the anatomy of the ear, I would imagine that once you position it in the ear canal, the ice pick would follow the path of least resistance, so the degree of precision might not be as much as one might expect. However, one would be hard-pressed to just quickly jam an ice pick into an ear in one fluid movement and actually succeed at hitting the brain, so perhaps you could have your killer tentatively ease the ice pick in about an inch or so and then, as the victim stirs in his/her sleep, quickly thrust the pick through the internal acoustic meatus, through the cochlea, and into the brain. However, even if you got the ice pick through the inner ear, I'm not sure whether you'd hit the brain stem (preferably) or the cerebellum, and neither is absolutely, 100 percent guaranteed to kill a person. So your killer would have to be either pretty skilled at shoving ice picks into skulls, or have a really good motivation to take the risk of being caught by the spouse if s/he doesn't succeed in quickly and quietly killing the victim.

Oh, I should add that pulling the ear back and slightly upward will help to straighten the ear canal, making it easier to insert things. This comes in handy while cleaning my autistic preschooler's ears, but would come in equally handy while committing dastardly ice pick murders, so long as the victim is a heavy sleeper! 

[aspiringhopeful]

Ok I know the warning is 120 days old but will add it for future reference all the same.

Instead of going through the ear, you could consider going through the nasal cavity, using a long enough needle/stem.

Maybe?

[Old Bill]

Even tho this is an old thread (I must have missed this one) I'd like to respond just for the sake of discussion.  I doubt that a person would die so quickly in this way that movement/noise/shaking of the bed or whatever would not alert/disturb the spouse.  As to being diagnosed as a cerebral hemorrhage...a good autopsy with brain dissection would find the insertion point and travel path of the ice pick.  And as Mystery Mom replied, hit the right spot is asking a lot for the reader to believe.

Just as a point of curiosity, Twisted, let us know whether you decided to go with an ice pick or came up with something else.

[Gene15219]

Ok I know the warning is 120 days old but will add it for future reference all the same.

Instead of going through the ear, you could consider going through the nasal cavity, using a long enough needle/stem.

Maybe?

In the early part of the 20th century US Physicians performed Cranial Lobotomies using an instrument similar to an ice pick.   The craniotome was inserted under the eyelid, moved in a proscribed series of motions, then the instrument was removed.   When done properly the operation gave the sufferer a set of black eyes.    The patient only rarely died.  They would become docile most of the time.

The ear has a good bit of bone around it.  I am not sure that using the ear canal would do that much good.   The ear is also sensitive.

The most vulnerable area for death is to damage the brain stem.  This governs basic body functions and consciousness.   One could also damage the heavier arteries in the base of the brain causing a hemorrhage.