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Thread: Pennsylvania man blows up house on daughterâ??s wedding day

  1. #1
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    Pennsylvania man blows up house on daughterâ??s wedding day

    Killed himself in the process. I guess it didn't like the son in law.

    https://nypost.com/2019/09/15/pennsy...s-wedding-day/

  2. #2
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    How rude.
    There again, it was his house.
    Never mind.
    A faulty hypothesis forming:
    A German scientist using Iranian physics and French mathematics.



  3. #3
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    Hey guys

    While it's not a crime to be an idiot, it is to commit suicide, so this gets filed under Police Blotter
    .

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    Actually SC suicide is legal in the US so not a crime really. assisted suicide isn't
    Last edited by pkstracy; 09-17-2019 at 12:59 PM.

  5. #5
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    Arson is a crime. If he had survived, he would have been charged.
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  6. #6
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    His bits and pieces should be rounded up and charged with being idiotic, but alas, they cannot.

  7. #7
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    In absentia.
    A faulty hypothesis forming:
    A German scientist using Iranian physics and French mathematics.



  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimC View Post
    In absentia.
    Works for me.
    .

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    He didn't really commit arson, he blew up the house.
    And we don't know if he actually committed suicide, that might have just been a not-necessarily-planned consequence of being in or near the house at the moment it blew up.

    The question becomes, is it against the law to blow up your house in PA?

    It may be that he was perfectly within his rights, except maybe if there are local noise ordinances, because you know it was probably loud.
    Even then, I would take a philosophical approach to defending my actions by claiming that any excessive noise experienced or noted by witnesses or bystanders was in fact not because of my actions, but because of their own action, by their elective presence, and thus their fault.

    We all know that if a tree falls in the woods, and nobody is there to hear it, nobody can say with certainty that it made a sound.

    So yeah, that's exactly how I would defend it.
    If I wasn't dead.
    A faulty hypothesis forming:
    A German scientist using Iranian physics and French mathematics.



  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimC View Post
    He didn't really commit arson, he blew up the house.
    And we don't know if he actually committed suicide, that might have just been a not-necessarily-planned consequence of being in or near the house at the moment it blew up.

    The question becomes, is it against the law to blow up your house in PA?

    It may be that he was perfectly within his rights, except maybe if there are local noise ordinances, because you know it was probably loud.
    Even then, I would take a philosophical approach to defending my actions by claiming that any excessive noise experienced or noted by witnesses or bystanders was in fact not because of my actions, but because of their own action, by their elective presence, and thus their fault.

    We all know that if a tree falls in the woods, and nobody is there to hear it, nobody can say with certainty that it made a sound.

    So yeah, that's exactly how I would defend it.
    If I wasn't dead.

    As long as he wasn't trying to get the insurance to pay for it and no public services were used to put out said fire, a good attorney could probably get it dismissed but I'm sure the DA would push for something.

    I once knew this [normally very calm] gal who beat the living shit out of the car her husband drove. He called the cops on her. Thing is, the car was in her name so when they got there, evidently they were all confused and had to call their superiors 'cause they'd never had this problem before. Usually, people destroy *other* people's shit, ya know. She told me they even tried to get her with the, "But *he* drives it, right?" She just said, "It's my car."

    She sold it for scrap a few months later; it was a piece of shit anyway.


    And yes I asked her why and I never really got a good answer.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  11. #11
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    I doubt it is strictly legal anywhere, though some places it might just be a building code violation (no one will give you a permit to demolish your house by burning it).
    The better question is whether it is a felony.
    Under the common law, it would not be. One of the elements of common law arson is that the property burned has to be that of another, not your own. When discussing common law felonies it is useful to recall that they were usually punished by death by hanging. Arson is an example. Of course burning your own house could threaten your neighbors, but charging the miscreant with a misdemeanor was considered sufficient unless the fire actually spread.
    The common law element of “property of another” still applies in my my State (New Mexico) except that it counts as felony arson if you burn your own property for the purposes of insurance fraud.https://www.quora.com/Is-it-legal-in...your-own-house

    Arson is when you burn something belonging to someone else, I am guessing guy was going to commit suicide probably went in the house to do it, flipped a switch and due to gas leaking already in basement blew up the house, horrible either way.

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    A few sites are also adding, he was known to the police as they had been called to the house over domestic issues a few times with him regarding mental issues.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a9105901.html

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    Quote Originally Posted by shellc View Post
    A few sites are also adding, he was known to the police as they had been called to the house over domestic issues a few times with him regarding mental issues.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a9105901.html
    According to this article, the explosion and resulting fire damage the house next door which had recently been sold. Had he lived, they would have charged him with something. The nitty gritty is that it was most def a crime and belongs here.
    GOD IS NOT DEAD





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    Quote Originally Posted by cindyt View Post
    According to this article, the explosion and resulting fire damage the house next door which had recently been sold. Had he lived, they would have charged him with something. The nitty gritty is that it was most def a crime and belongs here.
    Well damn then.
    He died a criminal and will never have a chance to clear his name.

    He might not have even known that his actions were criminal.
    He might have been innocently planning to blow his house up for quite some time for any number of logical\legal reasons without intending to cause all of this.

    I bet he wishes now that he'd checked with a lawyer or Googled "legally blow up your house" or something like that first.

    So I did just Google it - turns out there's quite a lot of info about that available; there's even advice on how to do it, and a couple of sites that seem to be selling kits for doing it. I didn't click on those links, sorry.
    A faulty hypothesis forming:
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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimC View Post
    Well damn then.
    He died a criminal and will never have a chance to clear his name.

    He might not have even known that his actions were criminal.
    He might have been innocently planning to blow his house up for quite some time for any number of logical\legal reasons without intending to cause all of this.

    I bet he wishes now that he'd checked with a lawyer or Googled "legally blow up your house" or something like that first.

    So I did just Google it - turns out there's quite a lot of info about that available; there's even advice on how to do it, and a couple of sites that seem to be selling kits for doing it. I didn't click on those links, sorry.
    Well, boo, Jim, I might could use those links in a crime novel.
    GOD IS NOT DEAD





  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by cindyt View Post
    Well, boo, Jim, I might could use those links in a crime novel.
    Visit a few web sites selling do-it-yourself-blow-up-your-house kits and you might have lots of time for working on a crime novel.
    Free room and board, too.
    A faulty hypothesis forming:
    A German scientist using Iranian physics and French mathematics.



  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimC View Post
    Visit a few web sites selling do-it-yourself-blow-up-your-house kits and you might have lots of time for working on a crime novel.
    Free room and board, too.
    I know. I was just messing with you.
    GOD IS NOT DEAD





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    Interesting to ponder the guy’s intent. I mean, “being investigated as a suicide...there were suicide notes found in his vehicle...” - some pretty strong indicators. But it seems that he didn’t foresee, and would’ve been impressed by, what a magnificent and thorough job he did, kind of like how 9/11 was even more “successful” than the terrorists had planned.

    Some people remark how selfish suicide is, particularly the public ones that gum up morning commutes (jumping off bridges onto expressways; running onto train tracks). This guy raised the bar. What a narcissist. Now the daughter and the whole family will remember her wedding day largely in reference to how spectacular dude’s self-explosion was. Maybe they’ll all be able to laugh about it in years to come, reminiscing at family reunions over potato salad...or s’mores.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by MirrorDimly View Post
    Interesting to ponder the guy’s intent. I mean, “being investigated as a suicide...there were suicide notes found in his vehicle...” - some pretty strong indicators. But it seems that he didn’t foresee, and would’ve been impressed by, what a magnificent and thorough job he did, kind of like how 9/11 was even more “successful” than the terrorists had planned.

    Some people remark how selfish suicide is, particularly the public ones that gum up morning commutes (jumping off bridges onto expressways; running onto train tracks). This guy raised the bar. What a narcissist. Now the daughter and the whole family will remember her wedding day largely in reference to how spectacular dude’s self-explosion was. Maybe they’ll all be able to laugh about it in years to come, reminiscing at family reunions over potato salad...or s’mores.
    Son-in-law may be laughing about it now.
    If not, it could be for lack of potato salad or S'mores.

    Some aspects of history might seem a bit less grim if we made a point of discussing them over potato salad and S'mores.
    And yeah, I'm thinking about the Black Death and the World Wars and the like.

    But getting back to this one situation, who doesn't leave suicide notes in their vehicle?
    I mean, I leave suicide notes in other people's vehicles.

    Any given suicide note can be of unknown authorship.
    You shouldn't automatically assume that some nearby dead person who seems to have killed themselves also wrote the suicide note because it could have been placed there by almost anybody; before or after the fact.

    It's not a crime to leave a suicide note (or multiple suicide notes) near accident scenes, natural disasters or at funerals.
    Not yet; anyway.

    Taking that point to it's next logical level, people like Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot might have been judged a bit less harshly by history with the judicious use of some quantity of suicide notes. But that's too little too late in the idea department, so live and learn, I guess.

    But yeah, people about to commit suicide should be a little more courteous and thoughtful as to how their method might affect others who are just trying to go about their normal business. It's not like they're preoccupied or distracted with thoughts about something they need to do tomorrow or later in the week; so they have no excuse not to think about it. A little consideration for those who do have an immediate future with related concerns seems a reasonable expectation.

    And like they say, what goes around, comes around.
    A faulty hypothesis forming:
    A German scientist using Iranian physics and French mathematics.



  20. #20
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    I don't care what thread this post is in, I was just curious if the guy would have been charged with a crime if he had lived, and answering about suicide being legal. Did he mean to blow up the house? Who knows, if it was done on purpose then his family could be sued by the neighbors for damages done to their house, or at least try to be sued, I remember one case where a guy blew up his house he died in it, and it caused damage, his family was sued and had to pay for damages. Yeah I feel sorry for the daughter, every anniversary they are going to remember that that is the day her dad died. Just like on my birthday I remember that's the day a friend of mine called me on the phone and while talking to me shot himself in the head and killed himself.

  21. #21
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    Jim - haa! What a great idea - planting suicide notes in other people’s vehicles.

    Quote Originally Posted by pkstracy View Post
    Yeah I feel sorry for the daughter, every anniversary they are going to remember that that is the day her dad died. Just like on my birthday I remember that's the day a friend of mine called me on the phone and while talking to me shot himself in the head and killed himself.
    Oh no! That’s horrible! I hope you celebrate yourself on your birthday most of all, without it being clouded by the memory of your troubled friend.

  22. #22
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    I try to Mirror but once in awhile, on my birthday I'll have a flashback especially if a certain song is playing at the time. I am curious to see if the neighbors will sue.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pkstracy View Post
    I am curious to see if the neighbors will sue.
    Why might your neighbors sue?

    Back to the topic - how can they even prove that the guy did it on purpose?
    It could have been a gas leak that resulted in an explosion - that happens with some regularity.

    This could have been a tragic accident instead of a suicide.
    Who even thinks about killing themselves like that in the first place?
    A faulty hypothesis forming:
    A German scientist using Iranian physics and French mathematics.



  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimC View Post
    Why might your neighbors sue?

    Back to the topic - how can they even prove that the guy did it on purpose?
    It could have been a gas leak that resulted in an explosion - that happens with some regularity.

    This could have been a tragic accident instead of a suicide.
    Who even thinks about killing themselves like that in the first place?
    The guy who blew up his house his neighbors, not mine.

  25. #25
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    I see, sorry.
    I thought maybe you had a feud going on with your neighbors.
    They could probably sue you if you were making threats or something or something like that.

    It seems to me that if the neighbors want to sue this guy for property damage resulting from his house exploding, they'd have to be able to prove that he caused the explosion rather than it happened from an accidental gas leak.

    Furthermore, the article mentions that some people had recently purchased the house next door and were soon to move in, they should maybe be glad that it worked out this way instead of finding themselves living next door to some crazy guy who doesn't like his son in law.

    That's one way to get rid of bad or questionable neighbors I suppose - blow up their house with them in it and leave a suicide note in their vehicle.
    I hear that there are websites where you can buy info and even do-it-yourself, blow-up-your-house kits; so that should make it pretty effortless. No need to reinvent the wheel just to blow up a house; benefit from those who've gone before.
    A faulty hypothesis forming:
    A German scientist using Iranian physics and French mathematics.



  26. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimC View Post
    I see, sorry.
    I thought maybe you had a feud going on with your neighbors.
    They could probably sue you if you were making threats or something or something like that.

    It seems to me that if the neighbors want to sue this guy for property damage resulting from his house exploding, they'd have to be able to prove that he caused the explosion rather than it happened from an accidental gas leak.

    Furthermore, the article mentions that some people had recently purchased the house next door and were soon to move in, they should maybe be glad that it worked out this way instead of finding themselves living next door to some crazy guy who doesn't like his son in law.

    That's one way to get rid of bad or questionable neighbors I suppose - blow up their house with them in it and leave a suicide note in their vehicle.
    I hear that there are websites where you can buy info and even do-it-yourself, blow-up-your-house kits; so that should make it pretty effortless. No need to reinvent the wheel just to blow up a house; benefit from those who've gone before.
    Isn't that called a drone with a release mechanism carrying a Molotov cocktail?
    .

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