Lately it seems to help. You find a quiet peace in the late hours of the night, by scrutinizing old case files. It's almost if Marge was nagging you to start on her honey-do list.
Next week it will have been two years since she passed. Time is supposed to heal all wounds, but this one seems to propagate as time goes on. You eye the sleeping pills you were given by your doctor.
You pull out an old familiar file. It never drew any attention at the station, even the news missed it as it happened the week after 9-11.
Case/Report Number: 84-9388-CA
Date of Report: January 05, 2002
Date of Death: December 19, 2001
Deceased Name: Bill Wright
Age: 49
Hometown of Deceased: Sacramento, CA
Apparent Cause of Death: Broken neck & back
Ruling at the Scene: Washing machine accident
Official Cause of Death: Blunt-force trauma to the head, and Class IV Hemorrhage
Coroner's Official Ruling: Accident
Location:
4710 Jerry Way
City, State:
Sacramento, CA
Circumstances of death:
Deceased was flailed to death by his washing machine, having apparently gotten both feet caught while standing in its basin during the spin cycle. Upon examination of the body at the scene, the victim's neck and back were found to be broken in several places, apparently due to stress from the twisting motion of the washer. The victim’s ankle suffered a compound fracture severing his peroneal artery leading to major blood loss. The victim's head also showed signs of trauma, having apparently been drubbed against the wooden cabinetry above the washer. There were no witnesses, so these accounts are a best-guess recreation of events by the forensic team called to the scene.
Background information:
Mr. Wright was a single man, living alone in his 3-bedroom house in the suburban residential area of Houston called Maplewood. He was known by his neighbors to be a resourceful man, always willing to lend a helping hand with plumbing, electrical, carpentry or any other kind of home-improvement or home-repair project around the neighborhood.
Events leading up to death:
Mr. Strickson was alone in his house at the time of the accident, apparently attempting to overfill his washing machine to do a rather large load of wash. The exact circumstances are unknown, but a recreation of the events by local forensic experts place Mr. Strickson on top of the washer trying to stomp the over-sized load into the basin with the weight of his body during the wash cycle. His feet became tightly wedged among the clothes in the washing machine's basin when the washer unexplainably shifted to a spin cycle, which should have been prevented by the washer's safety mechanism.
It never sat right with you. But with the whole 9-11 buzz it quickly disappeared without any added attention.
"What do you think Marge?" you find yourself mumbling.
4:30 am and you feel you might be able to sleep.
Draft this Post
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