Dead Man

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A man was found in a park with a rifle shot to his head. The weapon was found about 100 feet from the body. The police correctly ruled ‘suicide’ and closed the case.

Explain?

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Solution 1/ When he shot himself he was standing on the edge of a building / cliff / bridge with a 100 foot drop and either the man or the rifle fell 100 feet after he shot himself.
Solution 2/ The body was dragged 100 feet by a wild animal.

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Tony: Obviously there are a number of possible answers to this ‘puzzle’. Your second solution is very very close to the one that I know while 1) is possible but a bit involved for my taste.

Alan: Your first suggestion (cannot really call it a solution) is a bit off the mark while your second is possible but not the answer that I have.

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The body was found by somebody walking a dog after the dog found the rifle and brought it back to its owner.

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ahhhh close enough. The solution that I know has the police finding teeth marks on the butt that shows that a dog dragged the gun away from the body. This is an old one and I was reminded of it when I saw my dog running away with a knife in its mouth (he and i had a stern talk about running with a knife, etc, etc).

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ahhhh close enough. The solution that I know has the police finding teeth marks on the butt that shows that a dog dragged the gun away from the body. This is an old one and I was reminded of it when I saw my dog running away with a knife in its mouth (he and i had a stern talk about running with a knife, etc, etc).

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The body was found by somebody walking a dog after the dog found the rifle and brought it back to its owner.

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Tony: Obviously there are a number of possible answers to this ‘puzzle’. Your second solution is very very close to the one that I know while 1) is possible but a bit involved for my taste.

Alan: Your first suggestion (cannot really call it a solution) is a bit off the mark while your second is possible but not the answer that I have.

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Solution 1/ When he shot himself he was standing on the edge of a building / cliff / bridge with a 100 foot drop and either the man or the rifle fell 100 feet after he shot himself.
Solution 2/ The body was dragged 100 feet by a wild animal.

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Boy, that rifle must have packed quite a punch! Or did he roll down a hill?

Alan

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Boy, that rifle must have packed quite a punch! Or did he roll down a hill?

Alan

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The ‘man who was found with a rifle shot to his head’ wasn’t the actual suicide, but the unfortunate second recipient of the bullet which had been fired by another person in a successful attempt to kill him/herself whilst standing about 100 feet away.
or
He deliberately walked into a rifle-range in the park and placed his head behind a target, about 100 feet from the marksman.

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I think the first would have been ruled ‘man slaughter’ (or even ‘murder’ if the shooter had taken very careful aim) while the second certainly qualifies for a solution but is not the solution that I know.

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Ah – that assumes that a ‘rifle shot to the head’ means the guy is dead!

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I was considering starting with “A dead man was found in a park with a fatal rifle shot to his head.” but I thought that that was over-kill with descritions etc. I guess that next time, I need to be more specific (don’t i say that at the end of each thread).

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I was considering starting with “A dead man was found in a park with a fatal rifle shot to his head.” but I thought that that was over-kill with descritions etc. I guess that next time, I need to be more specific (don’t i say that at the end of each thread).

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Ah – that assumes that a ‘rifle shot to the head’ means the guy is dead!

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I think the first would have been ruled ‘man slaughter’ (or even ‘murder’ if the shooter had taken very careful aim) while the second certainly qualifies for a solution but is not the solution that I know.

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The ‘man who was found with a rifle shot to his head’ wasn’t the actual suicide, but the unfortunate second recipient of the bullet which had been fired by another person in a successful attempt to kill him/herself whilst standing about 100 feet away.
or
He deliberately walked into a rifle-range in the park and placed his head behind a target, about 100 feet from the marksman.

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Could also have shot himself while riding a horse. The rifle would drop immediately but it’s not inconceivable that the body would fall off some distance away. 100 feet seems improbable however. (If the horse bolts at the rifle shot, or is running to begin with, then the body falls off sooner. If the horse is walking smoothly then it takes some time to travel 100 feet.)

This also fits better with the ‘suicide by rifle’ bit-rifles designed to be carried/used on horseback generally have shorter barrels. (More properly, they’re called carbines but IMO most people would accept rifle as an adequate description of them.)

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Could also have shot himself while riding a horse. The rifle would drop immediately but it’s not inconceivable that the body would fall off some distance away. 100 feet seems improbable however. (If the horse bolts at the rifle shot, or is running to begin with, then the body falls off sooner. If the horse is walking smoothly then it takes some time to travel 100 feet.)

This also fits better with the ‘suicide by rifle’ bit-rifles designed to be carried/used on horseback generally have shorter barrels. (More properly, they’re called carbines but IMO most people would accept rifle as an adequate description of them.)

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