I've been toying with the idea of having one of my characters commit a very unusual murder, but I'm not quite there yet. The premise is as follows. A wife who is in an unhappy marriage can't find a way out, and she sees murder as her only option. However, she has kids and can't bear the thought of being caught and being separated from them. So she devises a very unusual approach to 'getting rid' of her husband. She plans to use scopolamine (the mind control drug) to coerce her husband into killing himself. So far, so good. But that's where I'm currently stuck! How does she achieve this satisfactorily without being caught (in her mind)? Some ideas I have are: When under the influence of scopolamine she plans to .... (a) Have him write a suicide note and then get him take an overdose of his prescription medication (b) Persuade him that he has to hurry across a very busy road, whereupon he is run over by a passing car (haven't worked out how she gets him to do this yet!) (c) Get him to jump from a tall building (again, reasons for doing this still not worked out) I've read that people under the influence of scopolamine are extremely susceptible to suggestion and mind control and have little or no recall of what has happened when they were under the influence of the drug. That's why I thought it'd be really good to use this in my storyline. However, I'm stuck at the 'how' part, as outlined above. Any suggestions? I'd welcome any feedback! Thanks, Norm
I think the suicide together with a note is a safe bet. If she's clever, she'll make sure to plant evidence of him being in a problematic state of mind some time before, and to have an alibi for when it actually happens. About the other two possible ways- she could utilize her kids, assuming they're her husband's also, and he loves them. Maybe make him think his children are in danger on the other side of the busy road so he will hurry across to help them.
Thanks Jenissej - appreciate that feedback. Yeah, the thought of using the kids in some way had also crossed my mind.
Use a computer or device that is specifically his to look up ways to commit suicide so appears is search history starting a couple months out. Have a suicide prevention card or pamphlet be found in his car glovebox or bedside table.
your major issue will be scopolamine showing up on a tox screen... may be she could use hypnosis instead ?
Good point. How long does it stay in the system? Would it be possible to give them the compulsion that they will commit suicide in n+1 days (n is how long the drug remains in their system)?
You might want to read this: http://www.dplylemd.com/articles/myth-of-untraceable-poison.html In short, it's surprisingly easy to get away with murder by poison. First of all, make it look like a natural death. If no one suspects anything, they won't investigate it. For this reason, I don't think suicide is the way to go. I would think making it look like an accident is better. If he killed himself, suicide letter or not, people might start to ask why. Suicide is a big deal, and he had children to take care of. Why would he then commit suicide? But if it was an accident, it's a different matter. But if it's late, he's tired, went driving and fell asleep at the wheel, the case is pretty much closed right there. He was alone in the car, fell asleep and crashed. Problem solved? Well, no... and that takes us to the other thing to keep in mind. Discovering a common poison is easy enough. But what about unusual types of poison? There are plenty of poisons that aren't tested for, and these rarely show up on any of the initial tests. Plant poison, for instance. So if he crashed the car, they could do a quick test for alcohol, drugs, poison, and so on. But this test will not reveal the uncommon poison, so there's no need for further tests. He was just tired. A handy accident. Not only did the test "prove" he wasn't poisoned, but it also allow the wife to be a grieving widow. Of course, he survives the car crash, it's a different matter. But for the story, it's a simple matter to say he died. Whoopsie.
She could get one of those demons from Bird Box? Seriously, though, where is she going to get the mind control drug? I've never been on the dark web, but bet LSD a lot easier to find than scopolamine. She gives him increasing doses in his morning coffee. He trips daily and begins to look more and more of a nutcase to everyone. He wants to see an MD, but no hubby, it's all in your head and we are taking you to a shrink. Shrink agrees he is a nutcase and prescribes strong anti psychotics, making the situation worse. Hallucinations are getting more frequent and disturbing. Everyone knows he's a freak, he loses his job, depression sets in, and he is putty in her hands. She arranges for him to call her so there is a phone record, and tells him to go somewhere remote and shoot himself in the head. He's an organ donor, and she waits long enough to report him missing that the organs cannot be harvested. "Yes ,officer, he called me talking all crazy and I was so scared, but I never thought he would do anything like this." I've known three suicides. Two were depression and the other one was cancer, and backstory on all weren't known until they were gone. Your character will have already hinted enough to make it believable. Besides, they don't do autopsies and toxicology on people with huge holes in their head. Oh, BTW, suicide voids life insurance policies, so what is the advantage over a push down the stairs or hair dryer in the tub? You might want to think about a secret lover or dark secret pushing her in that direction. Hope this helps. Let me know if you go a different direction, because I need a suicide in my novel and could use some of this if so.
