HÄR:
WHEN a man is found dead of 32 hammer blows to the head, is it murder or suicide?
The police in Hobart, Ind., faced this question after the body of 52-year-old James A. Cooley was found last April in the basement of his home.
Medical specialists said his skull had been fractured by 32 blows with a hammer.
The Hobart police called in an expert, who said the bloodstain pattern indicated that it was suicide. The police closed the case.
In June, the Lake County Coroner, Dr. Daniel D. Thomas, ruled the death a homicide and began a campaign to reopen the police case. And in December, the state police started an investigation.
''We have done what we feel we needed to do, and we have turned it over to the county prosecutor's office for review,'' says Capt. Larry Delaney of the state police.
The County Prosecuting Attorney, Jack F. Crawford, says he expects to decide this week whether the evidence points to murder or suicide.
In support of the suicide theory, he notes: ''The man did have cancer - it was somewhat in remission. He was depressed. There's no direct motive that we can find for anyone to murder him.''
But, he adds, there is also the medical opinion: ''A person could not himself inflict wounds of this nature.''
Så det finns ett fall där polisen har funderat på Suicide by hammer, ska se vad domen blev.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9A0DEFDA153CF933A0575 0C0A960948260