Woman finds boyfriend dead in catflap

Florida authorities are probing just how a 32-year-old man trying to get back into his girlfriend's house via the catflap came to kill himself in the process. Charles Tucker Jr had earlier been ejected from the premises, in St Augustine, by his other half. Several hours later on Saturday morning she found him dead, firmly …

[David]

One possibility

He could have died from what's called "Positional Asphyxia". There are more than a few cases where people in police custody have died from such a condition. He could have gotten stuck in the pet door, and while trying to fight his way out, struggled to the point that he got into a position where he couldn't breath properly, and basically suffocated from fighting to get out.

If I stand on your chest, you'll likely be just fine for quite a bit longer if you lay still. But if you struggle and fight, you're going to find yourself out of breath faster. It's a horrible way to go, and I feel for the guy. But at the same time, he probably shouldn't have tried to crawl through a hole that is around 8x8 inches. I've gone through dog doors in the past to get to people who need help, but if I don't think I can make it through, I'll find another way in, you know?

[cor]

Darwin award?

I guess he was all tuckered out.

[Dan]

Catflap

My parents cat got scared by something outside and tore straight through the catflap, taking it clean off the door. Surely a bit of brute force would not have gone amiss in order to survive?

[jolly]

Would never happen in blighty

This would never happen here in the UK as our catflaps are, I note, considerably smaller than the one in the linked photo. The catflap in my back door, for example, is too small for anyone but the pinniest of pin-heads to get their head through.

[philip]

Perhaps it was Oscar?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6917113.stm

[Red Bren]

If only he had a beard...

As any cat will tell you, never put your head through a gap if your whiskers brudh the edges...

[Steven]

Darwin would be proud...

Proving once again that the lowest common denominator will always shine through!

Paris could have slid through im sure.

[Youngdog]

Positional Asphyxia

I genuinely thought that 'Positional Asphyxia' was a euphemism used by police after accidentally over-restraining prisoners with their truncheons. Now we have a case that happened outside of a custody cell I might have to rethink my ACAB views. This is a sad story and a waste of life - shame the poor sod didn't get the help he needed before it was too late. Let this be a warning to men drinking to the point of unconsciousness over women they claim 'they cannot live without' - those words may prove very fateful!

[David Nicholson]

Maybe...

...he got stuck while he was chasing pussy?

If he was still alive I bet he'd be feline very stupid right about now...

[Anonymous Coward]

Can we have a Darwin logo for these types of stories?

Go for it!

[Guy]

I suspect foul play

Have you never watched CSI or Law & order?

Come on think about it, girlfriend has argument with boyfriend, she obviously doesn't like the man (at the time)

She kicks him out, he tries to get back in through using the catflap to unlock the door, she finds him, they talk, they argue, she gets distraught, does 'something' (TBD) and he's dead...

Police come, decide it all looks normal at the moment, pending autopsy, they spot problems, they need to look at the door to find more evidence, but oh what do you know, it's already been stripped out of the house and sent to the trash heap....

Very convenient...

I'll be the one over in the corner wearing a tin foil pyramid hat...

[Colin Millar]

Woman finds boyfriend dead in catflap

That must have been quite uncomfortable for her - especially if she had her face in the pillow

Come on - you knew someone was going to say it

Rule 8 observed

[Anonymous Coward]

Brute force

You'd need leverage to exert brute force. Kneeling with one arm and your head through a hole not quite big enough might not be the best position to apply the necessary pressure. Or maybe he was trying to but that's what blacked him out and killed him.

Or maybe he passed out from further alcohol abuse and his collapsed position choked him. The autopsy will no doubt tell.

[Anonymous Coward]

How about the cat then?

Did anyone ask it how it felt about it, just think, how would you feel, busting for a ...... and someones in the way.

[Anonymous Coward]

RotM

It's a cat flap. It must have hinges or some kind of moving parts. I believe it rebelled against it's rather abusive masters (how would you feel if you were relegated to a life of being walked on by a pussy?) and killed one when it got the chance!

Yeah, the trench coat with the tinfoil, and the matching hat.

[Anonymous Coward]

Enough with the DA, already: no longer funny

Have you heard about this thing called the Darwin Award? It's, like, when somebody kills himself doing something really stupid, so, like, his genes don't get passed on, and so, like, evolution. Get it?

This is so totally a Darwin Award!!! Me clever!

[J]

Of course...

"our catflaps are, I note, considerably smaller"

Well, even the cats are chunkier 'round here in Amerika -- mine isn't really fat, but he is very long and tall...

[Lee]

Poor Bloke...

...got into a flap.

was he called Tom?

I'll get me coat.

[T. Harrell]

Found unconcious previously?

The police had found him slumped over the wheel of his car the day before? So he was found unconscious, taken to the hospital for a quick once-over, and released. I've worked an E.R. before; the work-up for something like this is very far from comprehensive. He may have had something very seriously wrong with him medically, and died of it while in the cat flap, either as a complication, or unfortunate timing.