# Madam Palfrey commits suicide... and I call bullshit! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 2, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720 "2008-05-02T04:45:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/41 "2008-05-02T20:03:01Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a whacked-out nut-job conspiracy theory layout of Clue (Cluedo for you British types) were to be a best-seller. [/QUOTE] The Illuminati with the remote-controlled planes on the Grassy Knoll. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/42 "2008-05-02T20:14:58Z")
The second gunman with the swiss bank account in the federal building basement ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/43 "2008-05-02T20:28:32Z")
> [@Omegaman](#): > > That’s a hard way to die, hanging. > [@Bricker](#): > > Argument from ignorance. But it’s hard to argue that one from experience. OTOH, a properly done hanging isn’t that hard. You just have to adjust the drop so it’s enough to break the neck but not enough to pop the head off. Which also wouldn’t be hard, but it’s messy and unprofessional. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/44 "2008-05-02T20:34:04Z")
Hillary killed her in an apartment she was renting to cover up their lesbian affair and then dumped her body at her mother’s house, setting up the elaborate noose scenario to make it look like suicide. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/45 "2008-05-02T20:42:11Z")
. She’s not dead. She staged it to avoid the jackbooted stormtroopers coming for her. And she’s Keyser Söze. . ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/46 "2008-05-02T20:54:52Z")
[QUOTE=Manduck] pics of cat plz [/QUOTE] [Here.](http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/View.aspx?ciid=569849) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/47 "2008-05-02T22:20:19Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] _I_ killed her. [/QUOTE] I knew it! Cervaise is Vice President Cheney! Well, he has to do something with his time other than cast the deciding vote in the senate and attending state funerals… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/48 "2008-05-02T22:29:05Z")
Maybe I enjoy funerals … _too much._ DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/49 "2008-05-02T23:06:11Z")
[QUOTE=St. Urho] [Here.](http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/View.aspx?ciid=569849) [/QUOTE] thxlol! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/50 "2008-05-02T23:12:37Z")
She killed herself out of shame once it became known that Elliot Spitzer had to import talent from NYC to DC rather than use Palfrey’s skanky local girls. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/51 "2008-05-02T23:17:21Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] But it’s hard to argue that one from experience. OTOH, a properly done hanging isn’t that hard. You just have to adjust the drop so it’s enough to break the neck but not enough to pop the head off. Which also wouldn’t be hard, but it’s messy and unprofessional. [/QUOTE] Just trying to have a little compassion in a hard,hard world. I do know what it’s like to be scared, and think that ending it all might be the answer, but I’ve never had the gumption to do so myself. It would be much quicker with a gun. I do know quite a bit about guns though. One of mans finer inventions. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/52 "2008-05-02T23:51:32Z")
[QUOTE=Omegaman] It would be much quicker with a gun. [/QUOTE] Over four times as many people shoot themselves as hang themselves. Oddly, hanging is slightly more popular than overdosing on drugs: [Suicide Method Tables](http://www.suicidemethods.net/tables/listtabl.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/53 "2008-05-02T23:55:29Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] But it’s hard to argue that one from experience. OTOH, a properly done hanging isn’t that hard. You just have to adjust the drop so it’s enough to break the neck but not enough to pop the head off. Which also wouldn’t be hard, but it’s messy and unprofessional. [/QUOTE] Apparently not all that easy, even with experience. I read a book by Joe Persico about the trial and execution of the Nazis in Nuremberg. They brought in the US Army’s most experienced executioner, who had supposedly hung several hundred men. He botched several of the executions, and IIRC ended up strangling some of them. It’s conceivable, I suppose, that he might have botched them on purpose, for “fun”. According to Persico he was never allowed to perform another execution. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/54 "2008-05-03T02:08:04Z")
She killed herself because suicidal people are usually selfish and don’t consider what it will do to their family. Going to visit her mom to say goodbye and then hang herself on mom’s property leaving her poor old mom to find her body was incredibly selfish. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/55 "2008-05-03T03:42:22Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] She killed herself because suicidal people are usually selfish and don’t consider what it will do to their family. [/QUOTE] **self•ish** _adj_. Devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/56 "2008-05-03T05:11:26Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] Hillary killed her in an apartment she was renting to cover up their lesbian affair and then dumped her body at her mother’s house, setting up the elaborate noose scenario to make it look like suicide. 😃 [/QUOTE] It was also a move of political expediency. One Hillary and _Bill_ move back in the White House… ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/57 "2008-05-03T05:44:16Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] **self•ish** _adj_. Devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others. [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: **a•nal** _adj_. One of many traits of some SDMB members who constantly have to correct or point out other’s spelling, grammatical errors or redundancies for no apparent reason other than to be self-important assholes which adds absolutely nothing to the topic at hand.. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/58 "2008-05-03T13:04:03Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] :rolleyes: **a•nal** _adj_. One of many traits of some SDMB members who constantly have to correct or point out other’s spelling, grammatical errors or redundancies for no apparent reason other than to be self-important assholes which adds absolutely nothing to the topic at hand.. [/QUOTE] Q WHOOSH!!Q .. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/59 "2008-05-03T15:16:27Z")
When I first heard of this I thought it was awful that she would kill herself and let her mother find her body. Yesterday I found out my childhood friend had died of cancer and I thought of her mother having to watch her die. There was no choice involved in that, they are not the same situations, my friend didn’t want to die and she didn’t want to put her mother through that. I was upset and didn’t phrase my post well, I didn’t like the way it sounded but I didn’t feel like editing it. Recently someone else here felt a need to correct my spelling on two separate occasions which annoyed me and so I just saw what I perceived as another person correcting me and reacted without thinking. I had recently promised myself to be less negative and in my grief I forgot that. I apologize for overreacting. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720/60 "2008-05-04T14:50:41Z")
The OP might find Steve Huff’s research worthwhile reading. His[April 2007 entry](http://truecrimemagazine.com/articles/395), with extensive research, [DC Madam, Suicide… or Not?](http://www.truecrimeweblog.com/2008/05/dc-madam-suicide-or-not.html) and [DC Madam, Let’s Just Cut The Crap, Shall We?](http://www.truecrimeweblog.com/2008/05/dc-madam-lets-just-cut-crap-shall-we.html) is his most recent entry. Read them in order. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madam-palfrey-commits-suicide-and-i-call-bullshit/447720.md?page=4)