# A good way to dispose of the murder weapon? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 26, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650 "2003-02-26T15:51:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/21 "2003-02-26T19:01:26Z")
Rather consistent with TV dramas though, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Nangleator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19adc/32.png) [@Nangleator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nangleator)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/22 "2003-02-26T19:05:03Z")
Try genetically engineering a really dangerous bean, feeding your victim cabbage & (dangerous) beans, locking him in an airtight room, and letting nature take its course. Death by asphyxiation. Murder weapon: The victim’s own colon. Cause a spark in that room partway through the process for some really spectacular evidence destroyage. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/23 "2003-02-26T19:11:04Z")
Really, why not just get the guy really drunk and push him down the stairs or into a pool? No murder weapon to speak of, and it looks like an accident. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/24 "2003-02-26T19:12:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Urban Ranger \* > \*\*Eat it. If your murder weapon is edible, this is the best way. \*\* Wonder how long before someone tries to bribe [Michel Lotito"]Michel Lotito, Mr. Mangetout]([http://yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/~jonno/story7.htm](http://yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/~jonno/story7.htm)), into being an accessory to murder? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/25 "2003-02-26T19:13:23Z")
[sub]Preview, and a strong stomach, is my friend.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/26 "2003-02-26T20:08:03Z")
- - - The common way for criminals to dispose of a firearm is to beat it absolutely flat with a sledghammer. This pounds out the serial numbers so they can’t be read, and flattens the barrel so ballistics testing can’t ever be done on it. It’s still possible to recognize it as remains of a firearm, but in real-world terms that doesn’t matter. ~ ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/27 "2003-02-26T20:11:58Z")
- - - Well, I guess that would be the _second_ most common way to get rid of it: the most common way is to just sell it to somebody else… ~ ---
**Author:** ![raisinbread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/28 "2003-02-26T20:37:26Z")
**[color=“black”]Tomcat**, why not try phrasing your questions about marijuana like “I’m writing a movie about drug use and this guy has to hide his stash from his parents. What’s a good place?”[/color] ---
**Author:** ![benrocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@benrocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benrocks)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/29 "2003-02-26T20:54:47Z")
How about strangling someone with a rope, throwing it in the fireplace then eating the ashes? ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/30 "2003-02-26T21:30:03Z")
How about soaking all your murder weapons in pig’s blood or random blood samples? It should render isolation techniques useless. Comments? ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/31 "2003-02-26T21:46:43Z")
bury it in cement. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/32 "2003-02-26T21:47:25Z")
Rold Dahl’s the guy who wrote the story about the wife killing her husband with a leg of lamb, then cooking it. The officers, hungry after their search for the murder weapon, sit down to eat it. ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/33 "2003-02-26T22:32:51Z")
Use a weapon that cannot be traced back to you. Drop it in solvent or hydrochloric acid for a few minutes. then soak it in a gallon size ziplock baggie full of WD-40. Leave it where a gang member might pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/34 "2003-02-26T22:38:35Z")
I guessed you missed the OJ Simpson trial that we had a few years ago. The first thing the police did was to tear out all the sewer and drainage pipes of his house, to see if they could find anything that was flushed. Taking out the drain pipes is also standard procedure in drug raids if nothing is immediately found, or if flushing is suspected. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/35 "2003-02-26T22:40:54Z")
Well, living in California, the obvious solution would be to toss whatever the weapon is into the ocean. Y’all in the landlocked states are just SOL, I guess. 😃 It’s digressing from the OP a little, but if you use one of the suggestions on EATING the murder weapon to destroy it, you might also use a similar technique to dispose of the body… ---
**Author:** ![consolid8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@consolid8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/consolid8)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/36 "2003-02-26T22:49:09Z")
Use a car. Just run the victim down. Then apologize and feel real bad. “Oops, I made a mistake.” No one seems to get any kind of serious sentence when they kill someone with a car. And you don’t have to get rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/37 "2003-02-27T11:36:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by raisinbread \* > \*\***[color=“black”]Tomcat**, why not try phrasing your questions about marijuana like “I’m writing a movie about drug use and this guy has to hide his stash from his parents. What’s a good place?”[/color] \*\* No, I think I’m just trying to make a point: “You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use the SDMB to post any material that is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, threatening, invasive of a person’s privacy, or **otherwise violative of any U.S. law. You agree not to post any material that in our opinion fosters or promotes illegal activity.** ” {bolding mine} -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/38 "2003-02-27T12:49:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Judith Prietht \* > \*\*Yes, I remember those. And they were pretty successful (so to speak), weren’t they? > > All this talk of flushing reminds me of [Dennis Nilsen](http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/nilsen/mistake_5.html), who was arrested for murder after dismembering a victim’s body and flushing the pieces down the toilet. When other toilets in the building began to clog, a plumber investigated the sewer and found a “pile of rotting flesh.” \*\* Claim to fame! Claim to fame! My ex-boyfriends ex-wifes brother-in-law lived in the flat below Nilsen in Muswell Hill, he reported the drains being blocked. ok, ok, tenuous I know… ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/39 "2003-02-27T12:51:48Z")
With regards to frozen bullets, ice, meat, whatever. Wouldn’t the heat produced by firing a gun melt the bullet? ---
**Author:** ![Pergau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7c8e57/32.png) [@Pergau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pergau)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650/40 "2003-02-27T13:23:48Z")
Wasn’t there an episode of Elliott something or other where the only clues left were some chalky powder and a fishing weight. The murderer had conveniently invented a low melting point alloy and made a knife out of it. When he was finished, he melted it into a mold of a fishing weight. How about the Solder murders - if you don’t kill him first time - the lead will slowly poison him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-way-to-dispose-of-the-murder-weapon/157650.md?page=3)