# How does a prisoner hang himself in a county jail? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846 "2011-02-27T21:41:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/1 "2011-02-27T21:41:43Z")
I must say for full disclosure that I have been arrested a few times when I was younger and foolish. Each time, they stripped search me and didn’t allow shoelaces or belts. Then, when you get into the cell, there are no bars, just a solid concrete door. And even if you were able to fashion a rope out of a blanket or whatnot, cells are so overcrowded that someone would surely stop you if you did get past all of the above. AND, if that wasn’t enough, wouldn’t the slow strangulation cause your survivor instinct to kick in and untie the rope? All this being said, how is it possible that a prisoner can hang himself in a county jail? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/2 "2011-02-27T21:49:55Z")
Once all your weight is hanging from the rope, you won’t be able to untie it. Plus you’re rapidly losing strength as you use up your oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![deanc2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/53a042/32.png) [@deanc2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deanc2000)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/3 "2011-02-27T21:52:11Z")
You can just lean your neck against something to block your carotid arteries. All you need is 12 pounds across your neck to do it. It’s very easy really, if one wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/4 "2011-02-27T22:00:51Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Once all your weight is hanging from the rope, you won’t be able to untie it. Plus you’re rapidly losing strength as you use up your oxygen. You wouldn’t even be able to pull enough weight off of yourself and put some slack on your neck? I’m just trying to picture this scenario.. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/5 "2011-02-27T22:06:55Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > You wouldn’t even be able to pull enough weight off of yourself and put some slack on your neck? I’m just trying to picture this scenario.. You’d be doing a one armed pullup. Next time you’re at the gym, give it a try. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/6 "2011-02-27T22:24:03Z")
Fair enough. You guys seemed to have debunked the “survival instinct kicks in” part. What about all of the other stuff? What do you tie the blanket to? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/7 "2011-02-27T22:41:56Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Fair enough. You guys seemed to have debunked the “survival instinct kicks in” part. What about all of the other stuff? What do you tie the blanket to? If you have bunk beds you can tie the blanket to the top bunk and hang yourself on your knees. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/8 "2011-02-27T22:47:35Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If you have bunk beds you can tie the blanket to the top bunk and hang yourself on your knees. But when you started suffocating, wouldn’t you instinctively put your feet down? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/9 "2011-02-27T23:00:39Z")
When I was a sophomore in high school, one of my classes, for some reason, took a tour of the county jail. The deputy giving the tour semed to take some kind of perverse pleasure in relating grisly jailhouse stories and suicide stories in particular (it like was a scene from _Reno 911_). He showed us a padded cell - some kind of room used to cool off psychos and detoxers, I guess - where he said a guy had once hung himself from the light fixture by his own underwear. The ceiling was low enough that he could have stood on the floor, so he had to will himself to lean and hang. I guess enoyugh willpower can do the trick. The deputy also showed us another cell where he said a guy had killed himself by diving head first off the top bunk and into a concrete floor, cracking his skull open. It’s incredible how determined people can be. ---
**Author:** ![Oldeb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@Oldeb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oldeb)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/10 "2011-02-27T23:35:55Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > But when you started suffocating, wouldn’t you instinctively put your feet down? You’d only have to fight it until you blacked out. I’d think you wouldn’t even have to be particularily determined to get that far. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/11 "2011-02-28T01:51:51Z")
Worst case I saw was a guy who hyperflexed his knees by pressing them back against his bunk, looped his bedsheets around his ankles and his neck, tied it off very tightly, then rolled away from his bunk. The knees could no longer hyperflex without the pressure of the bunk, so his legs pulled the sheet tight around his neck. He waited until his cellie was out for his turn at recreation. Very not nice to see. But ingenious. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/12 "2011-02-28T02:26:46Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > But when you started suffocating, wouldn’t you instinctively put your feet down? Yeah, but some actually would keep going until they passed out. Also, a tourniquet could be made if you had something about a foot long and fairly hard to tie off some bedsheet. I don’t know if a toothbrush would work or not but that could kill someone w/o hanging. So someone doesn’t even need to find something to hang from to strangulate. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/13 "2011-02-28T02:37:26Z")
Also, you’re ignoring the fact that they might have been killed and then hung to make it look like suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/14 "2011-02-28T02:40:40Z")
I once knew someone who didn’t mention that she had diabetes, and tried to induce death by not taking her insulin. I don’t know how she survived, though. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/15 "2011-02-28T03:47:01Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Worst case I saw was a guy who hyperflexed his knees by pressing them back against his bunk, looped his bedsheets around his ankles and his neck, tied it off very tightly, then rolled away from his bunk. The knees could no longer hyperflex without the pressure of the bunk, so his legs pulled the sheet tight around his neck. > > He waited until his cellie was out for his turn at recreation. > > Very not nice to see. But ingenious. Wow. So, if I am imagining this correctly, he had his knees behind his back with his feet as far up as he could get them? Or were his knees to the front, as close to his chest as he could get them? He turned his body into a spring and used it as the tensioning device. Amazing, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/16 "2011-02-28T03:50:55Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Yeah, but some actually would keep going until they passed out. Yeah, I knew a woman who used to play “the choking game” when she was younger, so when she decided to kill herself, all it took was a belt hooked up in the closet and dropping down to her knees. No self-preservation instinct to override. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/17 "2011-02-28T06:01:06Z")
One I know of is similar in concept to **Qadgop the Mercota** n’s account. The guy tied the end of his pant legs together to make a loop that was looped around the leg of his bunk. He stuck his head in there as well and just rolled over and over, twisting it tighter and tighter until he blacked out and died. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/18 "2011-02-28T06:17:00Z")
Auto-erotic asphyxiation fanciers come close or actually commit suicide all the time, on purpose sometimes, to go with a bang, so to speak; IANA clinical psychologist, but it seems likely to me. I mention this for it’s bearing on the will for life that supposedly kicks in, and the ways of slow asphyxiation. More important, in completed suicides, there is no will to live, and the sufferer will suck up his gut and get on with business. Trust me, I know about this one. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/19 "2011-02-28T16:05:31Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > Wow. So, if I am imagining this correctly, he had his knees behind his back with his feet as far up as he could get them? Or were his knees to the front, as close to his chest as he could get them? > > He turned his body into a spring and used it as the tensioning device. Amazing, actually. I can’t speak for QtM, but my impression is the guy put his knees and ankles as far behind his back as possible, pressed himself against his bunk to hold his knees in that position and tied a bedsheet around his neck and his ankles. Once he moved away from his bunk his legs tried to straighten out, which pulled the bedsheet closed around his neck. > **[Redirect Notice](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:%2F%2Fwww.cubiclemountain.com%2Fhogtied.gif&imgrefurl=http:%2F%2Fwww.cubiclemountain.com%2Fhogtied.html&usg=__oyaw7GV7iG21BQEpzVndPiNEsy0=&h=500&w=500&sz=8&hl=en&start=8&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=C6X-BTB2_sQ6EM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=130&prev=%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dhogtied%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dopera%26rls%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=NsdrTcyRD4yasAOk3OioBA)** If that person had a rope tied around their neck and their ankles, then let go of their ankles, the same thing would happen. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846/20 "2011-02-28T16:14:29Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > One I know of is similar in concept to **Qadgop the Mercota** n’s account. The guy tied the end of his pant legs together to make a loop that was looped around the leg of his bunk. He stuck his head in there as well and just rolled over and over, twisting it tighter and tighter until he blacked out and died. I work for an insurance company and we used to cover medical malpractice for hospitals. I remember one claim that came through where a family was suing because the patient, their son, had committed suicide by tieing a blanket around the pipe under the sink and doing the similar thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-prisoner-hang-himself-in-a-county-jail/572846.md?page=2)