If you're going to commit suicide...

[Troubleshooter]

...at least limit it to yourself.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/26/tra...ent/index.html

GLENDALE, California (CNN) -- A suicidal man will face murder charges after parking his vehicle on railroad tracks Wednesday, causing a commuter train collision that killed at least 11 people outside Los Angeles, officials said.

"This whole incident was started by a deranged individual who was suicidal," said Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams.

The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Juan Manuel Alvarez, got out of the Jeep Cherokee before impact and watched the collision, Adams said.

[smoothmoniker]

I live about 3 miles from where the crash occured. I take that same train into town when I have a meeting.

Sobering.

[cjjulie]

and he thought he was depressed before!

[cowhead]

or don't try to chicken out at the last second...

that's the problem with people who only think they want to die.. if you're going to do it, there are quite a few other more sure ways I can think of.. of course they would require a little more thinking than parking your dumb ass on a train track.

and would be a little more spectacular.

strap some dynomite to yourself, down a bottle of percaset with a fifth of whiskey, light the fuse cut your wrists and jump from a tall bridge in the winter... multiple redundancies are good

[dar512]

Don't know about this guy, but here in Chicagoland we get a fair number of "walked in front of the train" accidents. One of the conductors told me they do it because it's difficult to prove that it's a suicide - so the next of kin can collect on any life insurance.

[bluesdave]

Originally Posted by dar512

Don't know about this guy, but here in Chicagoland we get a fair number of "walked in front of the train" accidents. One of the conductors told me they do it because it's difficult to prove that it's a suicide - so the next of kin can collect on any life insurance.

I have heard that we have so many "train" suicides in Sydney that the government decided a few years back not to publicise them in order to cut down on the "copy cats". I don't know if this worked. We haven't had some idiot drive his car onto the tracks, thankfully. As a matter of fact I don't think we have any level crossings left in the Sydney metro area. I'm pretty sure the last one was replaced with an overpass a few years ago. We do get idiots (usually kids, and young adults) throwing large stones onto the tracks in front of a train (and they throw them at cars on highways too). People have been killed that way. Sickos.

[lookout123]

i've got 2 friends that work for amtrak. they both agree that if you say you haven't killed someone in your first 18 months, then you are delusional or a liar. apparently, it is so common that they have go-to counselors to help the guys out.

[Roosta]

There was a similar incident here a while back in a small village called Ufton Nervet. Apparently, people putting cars on tracks is common here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ufton_Nervet_rail_crash

[Trilby]

All the patients I admit who are depressed and suffering from "suicidal ideation" come to the hospital with two suitcases stuffed with clothes, hair dryers, make-up, cartons of cigs and the latest Grisham. The first thing they want to know is, "when is snack time?" The second thing they want to know is, "when can we smoke?" Hm. Guess they are really in-tune with their inner dialogue and are heading it off at the pass. Either that or they need to be admitted for the disability check to keep on a-coming. When my sister attempted to kill herself (OD) she not only failed to pack a bag, she had to be squaded into the ED--she was a tad more serious and a tad less game-y.

[chainsaw]

I used to take that train route every day. Freaks me out to think...

I heard on a radio show yesterday that IF he is charged with murder, they will push for the death penalty. Hmm. Why wait?

[wolf]

Originally Posted by lookout123

i've got 2 friends that work for amtrak. they both agree that if you say you haven't killed someone in your first 18 months, then you are delusional or a liar. apparently, it is so common that they have go-to counselors to help the guys out.

Friend of mine is an engineer for NJTransit.

He made it five or six years, I think. Took it a lot harder than he would have if it had happened earlier in his career.

Oh, and I admitted a guy who somehow managed to fuck up suicide by train ... exactly how he laid on the tracks in such a way to lose both legs, one arm, and a bit of his torso including some large intestine, I haven't quite worked out.

[Iggy]

It makes you wonder what is going through these people's heads... The guy who killed the 11 people just got out of his car and watched the crash take place and did nothing. Hmmm. Well, one way or another he will get what he had came for, at least if they push for the death penalty.

[glatt]

So the State is going to kill him because he screwed up when he tried to kill himself. Nice logic.

[wolf]

Suicidal thoughts tend to be transitory, so by the time that the state is ready to kill him, he won't want them to.

One would think the dude has a built-in insanity defense, though.

Here's a thought ... what if we don't know it yet and someone he wanted dead was on the train and this was all part of a elaborate plot ...

I feel a Law and Order episode coming on ...

[Troubleshooter]

Originally Posted by glatt

So the State is going to kill him because he screwed up when he tried to kill himself. Nice logic.

I'm sort of mixed on this one. Personally, all he had to do was ask and I would have helped, but the state is going to spend a fortune helping him do something, which as Wolf said, he isn't going to want done, although if you read some of the news lately, the guys who want to be punished are now considered insane.