Even though the most used modern weapon is the handgun, people all over the world are still finding new and inventive ways to kill people on the fly. Usually, during a crime of passion, a person will use whatever they can find nearby to use in an attack.
In 1991, a 63 – year -old man from West Milition, Ohio, bludgeoned his wife to death with “a pair of banjos,” according to the Baltimore Sun. Miami County Chief Deputy Charles said, “I’ve been an officer for 30 years, and that’s the first banjo killing I’ve seen.”
Edward Benson was charged with aggravated murder. Benson beat his wife , Katie, with the musical instruments. Katie was beaten with a banjo in the head. When it was destroyed, a second banjo was used. She died enroute to the hospital, suffering massive head injuries.
Deputies were dispatched to the scene at 5:01 am after Benson called 911, saying his wife was in need of paramedics. Benson also immediately called an attorney. Neighbors said they didn’t hear any disturbances from the home. Authorities aren’t sure what led to the beating.
Although it sounds like a bizarre urban legend, this sad murder is all too true. In 2007, China Arnold, a woman from Dayton, Ohio, was charged with the murder of her infant child by burning the baby to death in her microwave. She killed the baby in the microwave after arguing about whether or not her boyfriend was the child’s father.
Police say the infant had high-heat internal injuries, but no external burn marks, evidence that led the coroner to conclude the infant had been placed in a microwave. The infant’s DNA was found in the microwave, but that evidence didn’t establish who put the baby inside.
Arnold took the baby to the hospital after finding her unconscious at home. She told hospital officials she did not know what happened to the child. She told the defense attorney she did not know how the baby suffered the burns and that she could not recall having anything to do with it.
In 1988, a man, with the most English name ever, Reginald Heimsley – Doddingdale, was found dead with a massive lump on the back of his head. The murder weapon was believed to be a piece of pumpernickel bread that was lying near the body. The pumpernickel roll had the approximate hardness of an anvil. Reginald never knew what hit him.
In 2007, a five – year -old girl named Monique Fulgham was found raped, strangled, and hanging in her bedroom closet by a jump rope. Investigators found that neither the girl’s mother or her grandmother were home, and her 70 – year – old neighbor and babysitter said there we no men in the apartment at the time.
Monique was taken to Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Detectives continued to grill the women into the morning because of inconsistencies in their statements about who had access to their apartment.
The Grandmother made the grisly discovery around 6pm. She told cops she found her granddaughter unconscious hanging from the closet door. The slaying happened in a seventh – floor flat. The apartment is right next to an elevator possibly giving the killer a quick exit.
Monique lived there with her mother, grandmother, an aunt, four siblings, and several cousins, the oldest being a 13 – year – old girl. The crime remains unsolved.
In 2008, a 49 – year -old pizza delivery man was convicted of murdering 29 – year -old Christina Jeanette Eubanks, with the lid to her toilet, after using a stun gun to take her into submission and rape her. He admitted to bashing her head in, but refuted claims that he choked her with a dog collar, insisting he used it to drag her body to a nearby creek.
Marvin Joseph Hill insisted he never meant to kill her and painted a portrait of a May – December affair fueled by a mutual fondness for Marijuana, which Hill readily supplied.
On the night of the slaying, Hill told jurors he twice had sex with Eubanks, who was dating another man at the time, and had gone into her bathroom naked to fix her toilet. He said he told Eubanks he could no longer see her, and the two began to argue.
Carrying the toilet lid into the living room, Hill said he intended only to confront her face to face when he instead flew into a rage and struck her with the unusual murder weapon. Hill was found guilty of first – degree murder and abuse of a corpse. He was sentenced to an automatic life term, with the possibility of parole after serving a mandatory 51 years.
A man in Jacksonville, Florida was found guilty of strangling Patricia Ann McCowum, in 2006, with a pair of sweatpants. The man choked Patricia so hard that blood vessels in her eyes burst, leaving DNA all over the sweatpants.
In 2011, a 45 – year – old Irish woman named Karen Walsh was given 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting and beating an 81 – year – old woman to death on Christmas day. The elderly woman also suffered 15 broken ribs during the attack. The court alleged that Walsh molested the elderly woman after beating her to death to make it look like someone broke into the house.
The prosecution claimed that Walsh killed Mrs. Rankin in a drunken rage because Rankin had chastised her about her drinking and urged her to go home to her two – year – old son. Walsh had beaten Rankin in the head with a crucifix, a weapon of opportunity.
Walsh left the court protesting her innocence, but the judge said she had shown no remorse and posed a significant risk to the public.
James Paul Harris was accused of the murder of 49 – year – old James Gerety in 2011. According to a pretrial testimony, Harris first shot Gerety for two days and cutting off his head testified that Harris kept Garety’s head and spoke to it in the allegedly voodoo – related crime. The voodoo rituals were behind Harris’ fascination with, and use of, the severed head.
Richard Clare, a heroine addict from England was put on trial for murder after he killed a family friends, Timothy Magee, by hitting him in the back of the head with a dessert spoon after Tim took his phone. The spoon’s impact ruptured an artery and caused fatal bleeding in the area between his skull and brain.
Family and friends of Timothy Magee shouted at the jury who returned a not guilty verdict. Mr. Clare said he was acting in self – defense after being head butted by Magee and suffering blows from another man’s cane.
Joanna Yeates, a landscape architect, was found strangled to death in her apartment on Christmas morning. The detectives working into the case believe that a missing sock was used to strangle her and may have been kept by the killer as a trophy.
Yeates’ snow-covered body was missing one of her knee – length socks, and detectives believed the garment held the key to solving her murder. She was also not wearing her coat or boots, but those items were recovered in her home.
Nora Peterson was charged with murder in 2012 after hitting her boyfriend in the head with a frying pan in the middle of an argument. Police released the information that she actually hit her boyfriend in the head with a lot of things, including the frying pan, causing him to fall and hit his head on the floor.
An autopsy performed on her boyfriend proved that he died of blunt force trauma to the head. Peterson was charged with one count of first – degree murder.
A triple homicide occurred in 2013 when Jaren Kuester broke into a farmhouse to steal valuables, and used a fireplace poker to beat the house’s owner to death. He also beat two more to death when they returned to the farmhouse later that evening .
Police found the bodies of Dean, Gary, and Chloe Thoreson. The two brothers died of multiple blunt force injuries to the neck and head, and Chloe had multiple blunt force traumas to the head along with stab wounds.
Kuester was charged with three counts of first – degree intentional, and one county of burglary. The felony homicide charges carry sentences of life in prison. The other felony charge carries additional years and fines of up to $35,000.
Kenneth Osako, a plumber from San Francisco, was arrested for homicide after he used a steel bar from a lat pull down machine to smash a guy in the head at Ballys Total Fitness. Just 48 hours after the murder, members of the gym said that it was like nothing had happened.
Police say Osaka picked up a steel gym bar and attacked another club member, striking him on the head “several times” before dropping the piece of equipment and leaving the scene. Investigators said that the piece of gym equipment was “a weapon of opportunity .”
Investigators interviewed people to figure out a motive and whether Osako, and the victim knew each other. They knew each other only in passing.
In 2010, after having an illicit sexually relationship with Duane Hurley (the victim), 17 – year- old Daniel Kovarbasich smashed Hurley in the head with a pickle jar and stabbed him so many times that his knife broke. And when his knife broke, he went to the kitchen and got another one.
Hurley was a pedophile who lured Daniel with money and the use of his car in exchange for sex. Police would later find thousands of porn photos on his computer, many depicting underage boys. Daniel said Hurley had sodomized him two weeks before and now wanted to do it again. That's when Daniel snapped.
Daniel repeatedly bashed Hurley in the head with a pickle jar, then began stabbing him. By the time it was all over, Hurley had been stabbed 50 times. Daniel was sentenced to 16 months in jail and later was released on house arrest. He’s scheduled to be sent to a mental institution until he is 21.
In 2013, a man from Phoenix, Arizona, beat his two – year – old son to death with his belt for wetting the bed. Instead of taking their child to the ER, Darnell Alvarez and Davianna Blake, let their son die out of fear that they would come under the scrutiny of Child Protective Services.
Blake insisted to police that her son had no bruises when she left for work, and “Darnell is the one who administers discipline in the family.” Blake saw the child was bruised and lethargic, and said she wanted to take the boy to the hospital, but Darnell didn’t want CPS involved.
Alvarez admitted to striking the boy twice with a belt in the morning for wetting the bed, and hit him twice again in the afternoon after defacing in his underwear. The child dropped to the floor and attempted to roll away. Alvarez continued to follow the child, striking him repeatedly as the child continued to try to get away.
In the boy’s autopsy, he was found to have a lacerated liver, internal bleeding, and bruising all over his body – injuries that are consistent with being struck by a belt. Both Alvarez and Blake were booked into jail on charges of first – degree murder and child abuse.
A 14 – year – old student in an East Los Angeles middle school was stabbed to death with a pair of scissors by another student in January of 2015. The murder took place in the afternoon and happened in front of multiple students and teachers.
The boy died after being taken to a local hospital. The teen had been sitting in a semi – open corridor of the middle school when the suspect, another male juvenile, approached him and stabbed him with the scissors.
There was no indication of a fight prior to the stabbing. A 13- year – old was arrested at his home in Los Angeles. He was booked for suspicion of murder, and officials said he was possibly a gang member.
A man from Patterson, New Jersey was charged with aggravated manslaughter for beating his friend to death with a dumbbell at his apartment. After getting into a heated argument, the man hit his friend in the head multiple times with a 25 lb metal dumbbell until he died.
Estaban Castillo faces up to 15 years in state prison. It was not disclosed what they were arguing about. Authorities said William Vasconello’s body was found two days after the killing . Castillo was arrested days afterward.
In 2010, Jose Fernando Corona used a chainsaw to decapitate his wife before dragging her lifeless corpse into the street. The responding officers found two chainsaws at the scene of the crime, one of them still running, with blood and tissue matter nearby.
A bloody trail led from Corona’s headless body to the doorway of their home. Jose Fernando Corona is still at large.
This list of unusual weapons, ranging from a jump rope to a banjo, will make you think twice about what kind of items you keep around the house. Weapons of opportunity for murder have no limits. Some are obvious choices and others are a scramble for anything that will do the deed.
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