Man Beheads Himself After Domestic Dispute
- Posted on August 31, 2011 at 8:56am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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It has to be one of the most gruesome ways to commit suicide. And it’s truly sad. A man in Yorktown, VA decapitated himself on Tuesday after a domestic dispute reportedly regarding his children.
The incident occurred around 10:00 a.m. when police showed up to a residence and then noticed a burning utility trailer attached to a white Ford Explorer at the subdivision’s entrance. Authorities approached the vehicle and the man inside, who had apparently started the blaze, refused to exit. That’s when things took an odd turn, according to WAVY-TV:
A fire department officer noticed a cable attached to a nearby tree and wrapped around the neck of the driver.
Upon attempting to get the driver to exit the vehicle, deputies said he accelerated the vehicle.
The driver, a 46-year-old man who had most recently been living in Chicago, was pulled from the vehicle and was decapitated.
The vehicle came to rest about 150 yards further down Holmes Boulevard.
Gawker has more details:
The couple was divorced, and had two children, both of whom were at school at the time of the incident. The father, unidentified by police save for the fact that he was 46 and from Chicago, had relocated to Yorktown to be closer to his kids. The fight was over access to them.
While a deputy took his ex-wife’s statement, another noticed a white Ford Explorer driving by, pulling along a utility trailer that was on fire. The car was being driven by the ex-husband, who had a cable — the kind used to “hoist an automobile engine” — tied around his neck. The other end was tied to a nearby tree. [...]
“Nobody has ever heard of anything like this,” Gawker quotes York-Poquoson Sheriff Danny Diggs as saying. “It’s a really bizarre incident.”
(H/T: Gawker)
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Comments (119)
bankerpapaw
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:31amLet’s not lose our heads over this.
rangerp
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 12:59pm@bankerpapaw
Report Post »You are funny, and you should stop while you are a head.
ToeBlock
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 1:09pmhehe
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 1:17pmThat’s what happens when you wear a hijab on the roller coaster. FREE RIDES for all hijaberrs during RAMADAM
Report Post »Jaycen
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 3:20pmAnyone who’s ever been in the middle of a divorce with children like this can understand what the guy was going through. It was wrong. It was a cowardly and violent act intended to strike back against his ex-wife. It ended up leaving his children permanently without their father.
Still, she owns some responsiblitiy in this, too. Both were stupid parents too self-centered to focus on what was important, the kids.
Report Post »ShyLow
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 3:34pmI think I’ve seen this movie on Lifetime…it ends with the women celebrating with friends at an Applebees
Report Post »Mr-T
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 3:48pmReally? Because I thought that was as funny as heck.
Report Post »Wabbitseason
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 6:49pmI think it is too soon for these jokes to be heading in such a sick direction…
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 8:07pmIt’s expected that someone will lose their @$$ in a divorce, but losing one’s head is a new twist.
Report Post »johnj1952
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 12:24amBoy what we wont do for the old lady.
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:30amIf LEO‘s saw the cable why didn’t they cut it? This is a problem with all that equipment on their duty belts and no one had wire cutters.
No arguement is worth losing one’s head over. Living well is the best revenge.
Report Post »AlmostaCowboy
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 12:07pmBonnie – Cops do not normally carry equipment suitable for cutting the type of “cable” (made of many “wires”) described. It was probably 3/8″-1/2“ inch thick and normal ”wire cutters” will not cut it.
Report Post »It would also be extremely dangerous. Have you ever seen any of the Logging shows on TV? When those cables separate they are like giant knives flying though the air.
MAXIMUS_MARIUSZ
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:26amHow bad do things have to get before you do something like that? Lord, please forgive this man for taking the life you gave him in such a violent manner. As You stated Yourself on the Cross (and I’m likely not 100% accurate here) “Forgive them, for they know not what they do”. This man was in a lot of internal pain and felt this was his only recourse, which is truly sad. Please take his hand and lead him to the light. Amen.
Report Post »Metalist
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 3:18pmUmmm, I thought suicide was one thing that’s not forgiven…
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 5:26pmGood question, I have never read where Jesus said that, but it is hard to repent without your head….
Report Post »thecrow2123
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:50pmNo, it’s not. To know God and then deny his existence is. As Jesus said “deny me and I shall deny you before my father”
Report Post »Favored93
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 12:05am@hidden_lion and @Metalist
Report Post »No the only unforgivable sin is calling the Holy Spirit evil. I personally am not sure about suicide although I KNOW it would not be an issue if you don’t do it!
Yes Jesus did say while he was on the cross in Luke 23:34 “father forgive them for they do not know what they do.”
newyork197020
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 12:24amMaximus has a point, BUT Carolinagirl and Alexandra1214 apparently think they have enough information to be judge, jury, and executioner.
The laws are anti-male, unfair, outdated in concept.
For starters, why should any man pay any woman alimony in this day and age? Child support, YES. Alimony? What a joke! And then the same women want equality!
IMAGINE if you will …… that the gender roles were reversed in this sad case. Do you think all the [men-bashing] women on this site would now blame the wife, or would they say that the husband DROVE her to suicide?
Oh, can’t you hear it now – the usual litany of sexual and spousal abuse. (just like the murderer/grifter who got away with killing her minister husband while he slept … and who got off scott-free).
Our society immediately assumes men are (a) abusers, (b) bad fathers, and (c) guity unless proven otherwise. The sympathy is always … always … with women … in divorces, child custody, crime.
What about the child rape cases when the rapist is a female teacher. Again, wink-wink, sympathy for the female.
Maybe this poor guy just couldn’t take the double standard, the manipulation, and games anymore.
No doubt fatherhood and men have been continually devalued in our society. It is very sad that a bunch of agenda-driven feminists have managed to convince many gullible women [who look for someone to blame] that men are the cause of their problems. Our problems have always been shared, al
Report Post »MAXIMUS_MARIUSZ
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:23amI’m really tired of some women thinking they can treat the fathers this way. Unless the father was harming the children physically, there is no reason he should not be allowed to see his children as often as the mother.
Report Post »The only way for our nation to become strong again is if the men of this country get some balls and declare that they are the head of the household, PERIOD. My father’s presence kept me straight as my presence to my kids keep them straight. Do people really think a 5′-4” wife is going to be able to stand up to their 220 lb son if push comes to shove? They will, however, back down to a 280 lb. strong father-figure. And I’m not talking about physical abuse here folks, just a respectful, powerful presence in the home. This is a must to any family – and that includes all you single mothers with kids out there. I’m not PC, I’m right.
Vechorik
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 11:54amMaybe the mother wanted to protect the children from the father…..because he had “mental issues.” ???
Report Post »CarolinaGirl
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 12:02pmThe man was obviously psychotic to have committed suiside in this manner. Would you want your children in his care??? NO!!!
Report Post »Solzhenitsin
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 12:23pmConsidering what happened, it does seem that this man was not altogether in his mind. We don‘t know any further details so we really can’t say that he was being wronged.
Report Post »Alexandra1214
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 12:39pmHey …. how about that nutjob of a father out west that tossed his 7 yr. old son off the boat because he wouldn’t stop crying …. just saying … maybe this MOM had to leave Chicago to have a SAFE life with the kids … and restricted access to the kids means …. the court had ordered it that way for a reason … I am not for Mom’s keeping the kids from the fathers … BUT if the father is a NUTJOB …. who the heck does something like this?? A clear sane minded father wanting to do the best thing for his children?? hmmmm???? just sayin ….
Report Post »paying-for-freedom
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 12:40pmHe was probably suffering from parent alienation syndrome. A very common practice used by women against there ex-husbands. I dealt with it for over 15 years, and the courts never do anything about it. I thought I would lose my mind sometimes aswell. The courts only care if your wallet is in your children’s lives not your heart and mind. Now I have both my children and it has been nearly a year and I am still trying to get the $1300 a month support stopped. So at this point with what little information there is I have to side with the father as a victim and the mother a murderer. But the may change with more info.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 1:41pmWhen I divorced my husband, my female lawyer wanted me to set up SUPERVISED visits every other weekend. I said no. He‘s their father and we’ll split the custody and the major decisions, such as religion, schooling, etc. The fight was between the 2 of us and didn’t/shouldn’t include my son. Happy ending, though, 4.5 years later we remarried and had another child.
Report Post »Rumrunner3
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:28pmOr the father was pushed to the “mental issues”, There is a limit to everything and his and the cables both were reached.
Report Post »thecrow2123
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 11:15pmAnd maybe SHE was the cause of them.
Report Post »akabosan
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:13amDid the article mention what size cable was used? It seems to me a 3/8″ would be quicker than a 3/4″ one. GB
Report Post »OLDBIKEFIXER
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:51amActually, it would have been much cleaner if he had used a “B” string from a guitar. Of course, he would have had to lengthen it quite a bit, as a guitar string isn’t all that long, but after running the small end of it through the brass circular nut at the other end, then making it long enough by tying it to some medium-weight cord, it would have created a perfect slicing device. 3/4″ or even 3/8″ cable would most likely remove the guys head by pulling it, which would be much more painful, and slower, than slicing it cleanly,
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 11:30amOLDBIKEFIXER
that would depend on how fast the vehicle was traveling as well.
Report Post »ramburner
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 7:59pmMost cables used to lift engines are only 1/4″, same as come-a-long cables. Point in fact. This size cuts quickly when wrapped around a neck! Sounds like this dad had major issues and mom just wanted to be away from them. I am NOT saying the court system is not biased and dads get a bad rap in most cases, but this guy did something VERY unusual – including the fire on the trailer.
Report Post »LOLReally
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 8:05pmIn junior high a kid was kicked out of his house for being a complete punk, he slept in the utility shed while his sister slipped him some food. He attempted to hang himself with an power cord but it broke (or whatever he tied it to) so he then took the gas can and poured gas all over himself and lit it. He began beating on the door, his sister saw, came out and beat the flames out with a pillow. Many years later I ran into this kid I thought had died, he was terribly scarred, his mouth barely moved, head looked like a rasin all wrinkly and bald. Early lesson: people are stupid and actions last forever.
Report Post »ALPHA OMEGA
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:06amWhat a way to go!
Report Post »OUTRIDER WRITER
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:00amThe mechanics of this suicide is historical and nothing new. Tie a rope over the limb of a tree and the other end around a neck. Tie the noosed person to the saddle of a horse, spook the horse into a run, and….
Report Post »ZABO
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:53amthis guy was head and shoulders above the rest of suicide’s. wow i’ve thought i heard them all! as always the kids will suffer!prayer’s for these children will help them out in this dark time. i myself am a child of a parent suicide! i‘ll tell you first hand that dumb decision’s hurt the loved-one‘s behind like they couldn’t imagine. and in many ways it’s selfish, so selfish!!!
Report Post »Solzhenitsin
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 12:28pmI am so sorry for your pain and theirs. A good friend’s father comitted suicide when she was young- he was mentally ill and she thinks of him compassionately although it did cause a great deal of pain in her life too. This sort of a dramatic act was consciously thought out so I think it was selfish. Other people, however, get lost in a moment where they see no other way out and I think they aren’t so much selfish as beyond reasoning.
Report Post »Hillbillybone
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:44amCome on all dummies of the world, Copy cat this guy!!
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:55amGod above I hope there are no more of these happening. I pray there are none. What is the other side of the story that led him to do this?
Report Post »Warphead
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:39amThere are always two sides to every story. I will not pass judgment as I will more than likely never get to hear both sides. But, a man that would tie a cable around his neck and then to a tree, well, I can say this. Dude ain’t, uhh, wasn’t right. I mean if placing a cable around your neck to rip your head off is part of your problem solving repertoire, well you got problems.
Report Post »Hephzibah
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 11:12amI was scrolling down to find a comment like yours because it’s what I was thinking also. A guy that would do this…maybe this is a big clue as to why there was a conflict about letting the kids be with him.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:33amWhat did this actually accomplish? Now he will never see his kids.
Report Post »GUT_CHECK
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:45amMY EX WAS RUTHLESS while using the cook county courts against me.
Report Post »for men it‘s just like dante’s hell, “abandon hope, all ye who enter here”
TomFerrari
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:30amA sick and pathetic man who felt he had run out of options.
May God have mercy on his soul, and watch over his ex-wife and his children.
Sad story.
I am shocked by some of the replies on this article, but, I also consider the sources of some of those replies – then I am less shocked.
.
This is a preventable tragedy.
.
I wish people would respect the sanctity of marriage more and would take their time going into it, and do so for the right reasons. Pregnancy is not a valid reason. Lust is not a valid reason, either. Marriage should be a LIFE-LONG commitment. Now, it is nothing more than a “for-now-agreement-until-one-of-us-changes-our-mind.”
Sad.
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 10:36amTOMFERRARI,
I agree with you somewhat, but I have to say, my relationship with my husband started based on sex. We will celebrate our 17th Anniversary On September 1st.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:26amGeez, what’s the matter with a bottle of vodka and sittiing in your running car in the garage? Heck, a bullet to the head is better than that!
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:22amEver since Adam. After Eve came along its been down hill ever since. Stupid stupid man that Adam.
Report Post »Sleazy Hippo
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:22amJust being a good sport for the wifey.
Report Post »Secessionista
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:18amI’ve seen this a million times. The woman thinks she “owns” the kids, so she refuses to ever let them see daddy. It’s not a “domestic dispute”, the children are being psychologically tortured by the mother because she wants to use them as pawns to hurt her ex because she feels jilted. The family courts in this land, at almost 100% consistency, will do NOTHING to change things. They write decrees giving joint custody, but then refuse to enforce them. They REFUSE TO ENFORCE them. You can’t call the police, you can’t ask the judge to do anything about it. Nothing. They’ve rigged the system to exclude the fathers. To them, the fathers are nothing more than a paycheck and should not be allowed any rights whatsoever.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:22amyou sound personally “jilted”.
Report Post »11:11
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:24amvery true
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:37amYeah, you’re right. And the fathers you’re defending have NEVER done anything wrong in their dispute with the mother, have they? They have never told lies to the children about their mother nor tried to buy their children’s love with fancy gifts or anything like that, right? They have never tried to damage the children‘s relationship with their mother through intimidation and restricting the kids’ communication with her, am I correct? I know there are some women out there who do the very things you’re ranting about, but don’t go lumping all of them together. There are some “fathers” who are just as evil, manipulative, and psychologically damaging to the children when they have them as are some mothers.
Report Post »GUT_CHECK
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:50ambiohazzard23, but the courts stand equally against the father, despite your complaints.
Report Post »Darla_K
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:18amIt seems to me alot of men get the short end of the stick as far as rights to visit their children. Alot of women think they can make the rules up as they go along. Wrong! The child has 2 parents and does not want to be kept from either one in most cases. Also, children don’t want to hear their parents bad mouthing each other. It is so sad that people can’t see what they are doing to their children. Amicable is the way to be. :)
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:15amIf only my ex-husband was this creative…..
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:24amsheesh!
that’s a sick reply!
Report Post ».
brbrem
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:30amAnd there’s the problem……
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:31amYou haven’t met my ex. ;)
Report Post »JayCee
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:42amBoy howdy, he showed ‘em.
Sad that it came to this. Even long distance and part time it is better to stick around for your children and work within the system to enforce parental rights.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:45amSeriously, I would never wish this on my ex. Our children love him and that’s what matters. There are days when I wish he would disappear, but never would I honestly wish for his demise. My kids’ love for their father trumps any ill will I may have harbored. Looks like my sarcasm was taken the wrong way and I probably deserve that.
Let the bashing commence. :)
Report Post »newyork197020
Posted on September 1, 2011 at 12:37ambiohazard23 … you are quick to speculate about what some father MAY say, MAY this, or MAY that.
But YOU have just expressed the wish on a public board that your ex-husband do the same.
And you DON’T think that that attitude bleeds into what you spew to your children?
You’re a pathetic loser. And sadly, emblematic of this angry crop of man-hating feminists in America that call themselves women.
And btw, what the hell is a feminist? What does that even MEAN!!???
What if I said I were a masculinist!
Don‘t you see how you’ve all been manipulated???
Think about this, all you non-thinkers … just like you try to convince everyone that girls can be as good as boys in math, then HEAR that females have not cornered the market on intuition and sensitivity, ow whatever other traits are considered female.
The enlightened thing to be … is a HUMANIST.
I feel sorry for all those women (and men!) who feel they HAVE to say that they are feminists.
It’s idiotic. It means nothing. THINK.
Report Post »Secessionista
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:14amActually, if you examine the implementation of divorce (with children involved) laws in this country, there are only two options. Kill yourself, or kill the spouse. The legal system affords NO protection of one’s basic right to freedom and liberty when your kids are abducted. If fact, the legal system implements intentional infringement of these rights and liberties and freedoms.
What kind of country do we live in when it is just a matter of fact that we take people’s children away from them for no reason whatsoever?
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:25amdude,
seriously,
you’re really grinding that axe.
wow, somebody did a number on you!
Report Post »KICKILLEGALSOUT
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:07amSounds like another Obama voter.
Report Post »theye
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:06amDivorce is the scourge of our country.
Report Post »Secessionista
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:22amThat’s because marriage is a religious institution, and the government wanted a piece of the action, and so made marriage something that requires a license. It has been an abomination ever since. So much so that people stopped getting “legally” married, but the government couldn’t stand for that either, and they declared imaginary things such as “common law” marriage.
It is all to keep lawyers gainfully employed on the backs of parents, because there are too many lawyers.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:26amsecess has had a NASTY divorce or three, I’d guess from his axe-grinding comments.
wow!
Report Post »Stalinist from Balkan
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:03amI know that right-wingers do stupid things,especially when the angry.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:11amyeah, like voting for Omama
Report Post »BSdetector
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:23amYeah sometimes we do, good thing it’s just the lefties that resort to violence and suicide.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:03amYes! If you are going to do something as stupid as killing yourself then why not make a statement and go out with a bang?! I remember a London cab driver did the same a couple years ago. Clever.
Hate to have to clean up the mess though.
Report Post »one years food ration like glenn says
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:06amWas he STALINIST FROM BALKAN uncle ?
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:02amWhat a sad legacy to leave his children – at least they weren’t there to watch his selfish act.
Report Post »ddg7
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:01amHe was from Chicago! Can you blame him?
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on August 31, 2011 at 9:12amLets send Obama a cable
Report Post »