can one really smother someone with a pillow?

I have tried (on myself!) with most of the pillows on my house. With all of them I either get a poor fit allowing air from the sides, or can actually breathe through the pillow material. Has there been any actual murders this way, or is it a Hollywood invention?

I have notified the Moderators about this post.

Don’t worry scm1001–you’ll be taken care of. Ho-Ho!

I’ve tried that, with similar results. Perhaps if you were really weak…

Well, I know that I used to cover my head with a pillow in order to muffle the sounds of people making noise in the next room (or the same room! (and also blocking out the light in that case)) when I was a kid, sharing a house (and a room) with several siblings, and I never ended up smothering myself. Of course, I wasn’t trying to keep the air out, but I did try to mash it down over my head pretty firmly to block out as much noise & light as possible, and sometimes added a blanket over the top, too. And still didn’t smother myself to death.

To answer your factual question: A google search does come up with incidents where people have died by being suffocated by a pillow.

Further discussion on this topic would probably lead to territory we’d rather not explore on these boards.

I’ll pre-emptively put this thread to sleep.

Thank you for your understanding.

-xash
General Questions Moderator