Ronald Opus jumped off a building but a stray bullet hit and killed him. Was it murder or suicide? Forensic science is the only answer to this suicide attempt.
On March 23, 1994 a medical examiner looked at the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he had died from a shotgun wound to the head. Ronald had jumped from the top of a 10-storey building with the intention of committing suicide.
He had left a note behind before he jumped and as he fell past the ninth floor, a bullet was fired through the window, killing him instantly. Unknown to everyone, a safety net had been put up just below the eighth floor for some building workers so Ronald would never have been able to kill himself. Usually, when someone succeeds at committing suicide, regardless of changing circumstances, their death is still defined as suicide. Because Ronald was shot during a suicide attempt, and probably would have been saved by the safety net, the medical examiner felt he had a murder on his hands.
An old man and his wife lived on the ninth floor where the gun had been fired. The man had been threatening his wife during an argument. He was so mad, he pulled the trigger but missed his wife and hit Ronald instead. Even though he tried to kill his wife, he still killed someone else in the attempt so he's guilty of murdering Ronald. The man and his wife insisted they thought the gun was unloaded. It was a habit to threaten his wife with the gun and he had no intention of murdering her. If the gun was accidentally loaded, then the killing was an accident.
More investigating turned up a witness who saw the couple's son load the shotgun several weeks before the accident. Apparently, the old lady had cut off her son's money. So the son, who knew about his dad's bad habit of threatening Mom with the gun, loaded the gun so his dad would shoot her. He was guilty of murdering Ronald even though he didn't pull the trigger.
But get this...
The son was actually Ronald Opus. He had become depressed cuz his attempt to cause his mom's murder wasn't working out. When he jumped off the 10-storey building, Ronald had actually murdered himself. The medical examiner considered the death a suicide and closed the case.
I think the mystery was very stupid. Why would Opus want to kill his mother just because she cut his money off?
Kidz Submit by:
Nickname: lilmissred
Age: 11
I think it was a murder because Ronald loaded the gun to try to kill his mother but his father missed.
Kidz Submit by:
Nickname: bat2002
Age: 11
I think this story isn't true, although you had me there for a second. It could be true, but I don't think a problem so complex could be true, unless they had some major issues. Bye.
Kidz Submit by:
Nickname: Erami150
Age: 16
I think that Ronald wanted to kill his mother not because she cut off his credit but because he wanted to kill himself and his mother wouldn't cover his suicide and make it look like an accident. He knew that his father threatened his mother with an unloaded gun, so he loaded it. He then decided that he couldn't wait any longer. That is why he jumped off the building. He had planned to have the net there, so it would not look like a suicide and when his father shot the gun, he planned it so that the bullet would it his mother, but it missed.
Kidz Submit by:
Nickname: blackrose11377
Age: 15
What do you think? Is this story true? Stranger things have happened. Or is this an entertaining urban legend? Take our poll and see what others thought or us your opinion.
Last week I wrote about Famous Last Words. These are the people who's last words were made up: Ansel Adams and Harriet Tubman. Alexander Graham Bell is said to have actually spoken the words, "So little done. So much to do." There are a few different versions of Oscar Wilde's last words. Some people quote him saying curtains instead of wallpaper. Here's what you guys voted on:
Famous Last Words - Fact or Fiction?
Most of them are made up. 20%
All of 'em are made up. 20%
All of 'em are true. 20%
A few of 'em are true. 40%
