Murder or Suicide..?

Readers, this is a true story from Associated Press, Reported by Kurt Westervelt and i thought of sharing this small piece with you...

On march 23rd 1994 the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shot gun wound to the head. Mr opus had jumped from the top of the ten-story building intending to commit suicide.

He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency.

As he fell past the ninth floor, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net has been installed just below the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

"Ordinarily"Dr MILLS continued, "A person who sets to commit suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism migth not be what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide". That Mr.Opus was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands.

In the room on the ninth floor, where the shot gun blast emanated, was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously and he was threatening her wife with a shotgun. The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window striking Mr.Opus. When one intends to kill subject "A" but kills subject "B" in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject "B".

When confronted  with the murder charge the old man and his wife were both adamant and both said that they thought the shotgun was unloaded. The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her. Therefore the killing of Mr.Opus appeared to be an accident; that is, if the gun had been accidentally loaded.

The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident. It transpired that the old lady has cut off her son's financial support and the son,  knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother.

Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger. The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.

Now comes the exquisite twist.

Further investigation revealed that the son was, infact, Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This led him to jump from the top of a ten-story building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window.

The son had actually murdered himself so the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.

Talent

Let me tell you a story I once heard speaker Les Brown relate.

A particular man played piano in a bar. He was a good piano player. People came out just to hear him play. But one night, a patron told him he didn't want to hear him just play anymore. He wanted him to sing a song.

The man said, "I don't sing."

But the customer was persistent. He told the bartender, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing!"

The bartender shouted across the room, "Hey buddy! If you want to get paid, sing a song. The patrons are asking you to sing!"

So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the very first time. And nobody had ever heard the song, "Mona Lisa" sung the way it was sung that night by Nat King Cole!

He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar, but because he HAD to sing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in America.

And with persistence, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may as well have no ability at all if you sit on whatever talent you possess!

The better question is not, "What ability do I have that is useful?"

It is rather, "How will I use whatever ability I have?"

DyInG To LiVe

First I was dying to finish my high school and start college.

And then I was dying to finish college and start working.

Then I was dying to marry and have children. :)

And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough so I could go back to work.

But then I was dying to retire.

And now I am dying 

Suddenly I realised that i forgot to live....