# Would this be murder? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2018, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885 "2018-01-18T05:09:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/1 "2018-01-18T05:09:06Z")
Hello Everyone, Talked to an old friend of mine the other day and we were remembering another friend who sadly lost his life in a car accident. Tragically the car hit a tree and caught fire with him trapped inside. Bystanders were unable to get close enough to help Anyways, one of us made the comment that we’d hope someone would shoot us rather than let us burn to death. And that got me thinking. I’m trapped alive in a burning vehicle, with no chance of escaping. If a bystander were to “put me out of my misery”, would that be murder? Surely I was dead anyways and faced a slow painful end. Just curious, murder of compassion? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/2 "2018-01-18T06:01:58Z")
[Hey, happy new year, dude.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=289696) ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/3 "2018-01-18T06:06:14Z")
Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/4 "2018-01-18T08:11:09Z")
I don’t see how the law could really overlook or excuse it - I mean what if the fire truck arrives and douses the Hitler chemical with fireproof acid glue just after you pull the trigger? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/5 "2018-01-18T08:21:38Z")
Mercy killing is considered murder. Juries may nullify in such cases and sometimes an extreme emotional distress defense or insanity defense is possible. The law doesn’t like the ‘I think he was better off dead’ defense. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/6 "2018-01-18T12:59:55Z")
It would be a crime if you did it to a human. And it would be a crime if you did NOT do it to animal, like a dog or horse. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/7 "2018-01-18T13:56:56Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Anyways…anyways [hijack] There’s no “s” at the end of “anyway”. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/8 "2018-01-18T14:20:38Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > It would be a crime if you did it to a human. And it would be a crime if you did NOT do it to animal, like a dog or horse. Go figure. If a horse or a dog drives my car into a tree, you’d better believe I’m going to shoot the fucker. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/9 "2018-01-18T14:44:27Z")
If a horse drives into a tree in the forest and nobody shoots it, does it still make a sound? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/10 "2018-01-18T14:58:45Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > If a horse drives into a tree in the forest and nobody shoots it, does it still make a sound? > > Regards, > Shodan Neeeiiigh. (Though some claim it wood.) ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/11 "2018-01-18T15:35:04Z")
As horrible as it sounds, you can’t really do anything other than try to help the accident victim. Even if the victim is yelling kill me, kill me. Shooting a person to “put them out of their misery” likely won’t fly in court, even though you might think it’s the morally correct thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/12 "2018-01-18T15:36:01Z")
I don’t think situations where someone is going to suffer for a long time but help is actually impossible are all that common, and killing someone quickly through a solid object like a car while visibility is obscured by smoke and flames is not actually that easy in real life. If someone spends a hot minute dying in a fire instead of getting shot and dying quickly, I don’t see that it makes much difference in the world, and there’s a high chance that the shot won’t cause them to lose consciousness any faster than the fire does. Making a legal exception to allow murder in a weird situation that doesn’t actually happen very often and where the murder likely doesn’t make anything better seems like a lot of work for something that can be easily abused outside of that situation and that doesn’t actually provide any real benefit to anybody. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/13 "2018-01-18T15:41:48Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > As horrible as it sounds, you can’t really do anything other than try to help the accident victim. Even if the victim is yelling kill me, kill me. Oh, that brings up another problem - how do you determine that the person is a sane individual who can legally consent to anything, and not just a crazy person shouting ‘kill me’ or someone suffering from temporary insanity from the stress of the fire who would not actually want to be killed? Assisted suicide laws generally require that there is some examination to make sure the ‘victim’ is actually making a clear-headed, rational decision. Note that a number of religions believe that suicide is a sin, and that if you request that someone kill you you’re committing suicide. Someone who believed in one of those religions might call out something in the heat (heh) of the moment that they wouldn’t actually want done, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/14 "2018-01-18T16:06:09Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > [hijack] > > There’s no “s” at the end of “anyway”. > > [/hijack] True. But there _is_ an “s” at the end of “anyways.” Weird! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/15 "2018-01-18T16:23:04Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > [hijack] > > There’s no “s” at the end of “anyway”. > > [/hijack] Also, there are no "y"s in anwa. But apparently lots of Mormons. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/16 "2018-01-18T16:29:05Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Also, there are no "y"s in anwa. But apparently lots of Mormons. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/17 "2018-01-18T16:47:06Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > 😕 [ANWA](http://anwa-lds.org/). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/18 "2018-01-18T17:12:02Z")
A somewhat related case is discussed in law schools about a man being shot after jumping from a building to commit suicide. See: [Ronald Opus - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Opus) and [1994's Most Bizarre Suicide | Snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/opus.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/19 "2018-01-18T18:09:34Z")
In war movies of a certain period, when someone is horribly wounded and cannot reasonably be saved, one frequently sees the medic administer a massive dose of morphine “for the pain” even in the knowledge that the patient is not likely to survive that much morphine. Is that realistic? Is there a “look the other way in the fog of war” policy? It seems like something those of us who have never been there should be loathe to second-guess. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885/20 "2018-01-18T18:32:07Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > In war movies of a certain period, when someone is horribly wounded and cannot reasonably be saved, one frequently sees the medic administer a massive dose of morphine “for the pain” even in the knowledge that the patient is not likely to survive that much morphine. > > Is that realistic? Is there a “look the other way in the fog of war” policy? > > It seems like something those of us who have never been there should be loathe to second-guess. I don’t know how well resolved this is legally but the practice of medicating to the point of death is common. When people are terminally ill and suffering it’s very difficult to determine the point between relieving pain and hastening death. Even the Catholic Church at one point said doctors should not hesitate to relieve suffering out of fear of hastening death, but I don’t recall any particular guidelines. Doctors will prescribe something called a [Brompton’s Cocktail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brompton_cocktail) to people suffering terminal illnesses knowing full well it may kill them. The inclusion of pain suppressants and stimulants makes it a medical [Speed Ball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedball_(drug)) when just plain morphine would work as well to ease suffering. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-be-murder/806885.md?page=2)