Please remember: it was not suspicious!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/7505443.stm

Who's doing the investigation? The police chief from the Simpsons?

 Holy crap.  This must be a joke.

 I don't think this is a WTF.  Could just be a bad tree cutting accident.

TheDude:

 I don't think this is a WTF.  Could just be a bad tree cutting accident.

That is brilliant journalism. I might drop the guy a message :)

Clearly the journalist thinks it's complete bullshit but he can't give opinion on a BBC news peice, so instead he quotes each and every person who told him just how non suspicious it was as a way of showing his opinion while purely stating the facts. Genius.

WeatherGod:

TheDude:

 I don't think this is a WTF.  Could just be a bad tree cutting accident.

In his apartment?

Did this happen around christmas time?  If so, that could explain it. 

<obligatory>

TRWTF is that the op posted an image of the news story while this spiffy WYSIWYG editor can handle copy and pasting of the story from BBC.

 </obligatory>

 No, TRWTF is that no one could be arsed to look for other sources reporting the same story.  Here's one that at least sounds plausible (not saying it's necessarily true):

(edited only to deleted some unrelated ads and other links)

http://www.thecheers.org/news/World-news/news_31925_Man-cuts-off-own-head-with-chainsaw-after-losing-eviction-fight.html

Man cuts off own head with chainsaw after losing eviction fight!

thecheers.org    2008-07-15 18:07:22

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London, July 15 : A 58-year-old man in Hampshire, UK, severed his own head using a chainsaw, after losing an eviction fight.

A 58-year-old man in Hampshire, UK, severed his own head using a chainsaw, after losing an eviction fight.

Police sources have revealed that David Phyall switched on the saw, and put a timer on the socket.

He even had a cocktail of pills to knock himself out, and then rested the saw on his neck.

When the timer went off, the saw sliced through his neck in an instant.

David committed suicide some 10 days ago, and it was his father John who first discovered his body.

Policemen and paramedics who reached the site said that they found David's blood-soaked corpse.

"What greeted them was a horrific sight. The head was severed and there was a considerable amount of blood. He seemed to have gone into a great amount of detail to end it all," British tabloid The Sun quoted a Hampshire police source as saying.

The newspaper reported that David had fought for several years to prevent developers bulldozing the block of 72 flats he rented in, and replacing them.

He was last to leave after all the other flats were boarded up in Bishopstoke, Southampton, added the report.

The paper even said that an eviction notice from housing association Atlantic Housing Ltd might have been the last straw.

"We had given him 11 other offers of accommodation but he rejected them, basically because he did not want a property owned by us," said a spokesman for Atlantic.

Ron Turtle, residents' association chairman, said: "They offered him several places that were similar but he just didn't want to move. They had to go to court. It is a very sad situation."

An inquest into the death was opened at Winchester Coroner's Court, and adjourned.

Tests were being carried out to see whether the tablets killed him first. (ANI)

 

emurphy:

...credible news story...

I figured it was something like this.  Even if the developers were evil enough to kill the last tenant just so they could demolish the building, they sure as hell would use a less conspicuous method than a chainsaw.  Considering how many people in this thread seemed to believe he was murdered, I have to conclude 90% or more of the readers on this site are total fuckwits.  This isn't a movie, people.  If you were going to kill someone there are much better ways to do it.  Christ.

morbiuswilters:

If you were going to kill someone there are much better ways to do it.  Christ.

Although not being able to get a gun in such a boring fucking country could definitely push someone to use a chainsaw...

MasterPlanSoftware:

morbiuswilters:

If you were going to kill someone there are much better ways to do it.  Christ.

 

Although not being able to get a gun in such a boring fucking country could definitely push someone to use a chainsaw...

I'm surprised they didn't just try piling Weetabix on top of him until the weight finally crushed him to death.

David Phyall switched on the saw, and put a timer on the socket.

He even had a cocktail of pills to knock himself out, and then rested the saw on his neck.

When the timer went off, the saw sliced through his neck in an instant.

MasterPlanSoftware:

morbiuswilters:

If you were going to kill someone there are much better ways to do it.  Christ.

 

Although not being able to get a gun in such a boring fucking country could definitely push someone to use a chainsaw...

I'd say cutting the head off with a chainsaw is a lot less boring than using a gun...

emurphy:

 No, TRWTF is that no one could be arsed to look for other sources reporting the same story.  Here's one that at least sounds plausible (not saying it's necessarily true):

(edited only to deleted some unrelated ads and other links)

http://www.thecheers.org/news/World-news/news_31925_Man-cuts-off-own-head-with-chainsaw-after-losing-eviction-fight.html

London, July 15 : A 58-year-old man in Hampshire, UK, severed his own head using a chainsaw, after losing an eviction fight...

A 58-year-old man in Hampshire, UK, severed his own head using a chainsaw, after losing an eviction fight. Police sources have revealed that David Phyall switched on the saw, and put a timer on the socket.

Yea, right.  If this were the case, I find it hard to believe that so many "officials" would be so eager to describe it as "not suspicious".  That seems an odd way to describe it. 

And if he did do this, I think he has earned the right for his immortal soul to be consoled with the electricution of a couple of "officials" from Atlantic Housing Ltd.

Numeromancer:

I find it hard to believe that so many "officials" would be so eager to describe it as "not suspicious"

There is nothing 'suspicious' about it. I fail to see how you could call it anything but a suicide.

Do you really think this is a friggin conspiracy still?

Numeromancer:

I think he has earned the right for his immortal soul to be consoled with the electricution of a couple of "officials" from Atlantic Housing Ltd.

Wow... just wow.

emurphy:

No, TRWTF is that no one could be arsed to look for other sources reporting the same story.

100% agree.  But surely there is still a WTF here in the way the BBC has chosen to report this?  It seems to me it's rather like reporting, for example, "Man steps in front of bus for no reason!" and neglecting to mention that he was blind and his guide dog had just dropped dead!!

morbiuswilters:

emurphy:

...credible news story...

I figured it was something like this.  Even if the developers were evil enough to kill the last tenant just so they could demolish the building, they sure as hell would use a less conspicuous method than a chainsaw.  Considering how many people in this thread seemed to believe he was murdered, I have to conclude 90% or more of the readers on this site are total fuckwits.  This isn't a movie, people.  If you were going to kill someone there are much better ways to do it.  Christ.

If you were going to kill yourself, there are much better ways to do it.  Even in the UK, where slingshots and butter knives are strictly regulated.

That being said, I would think one would need to put one's head in a vise in order to keep it firmly in place on the chain.  Even an anti-kickback chain is going to transfer motion to the saw-ee.

operagost:

If you were going to kill yourself, there are much better ways to do it.

Not if you want to make a statement like this guy clearly did.

operagost:

Even an anti-kickback chain is going to transfer motion to the saw-ee.

100+ pounds would push his neck right through the chain. This is 100% plausible, not sure how you could even attempt to argue this.

MasterPlanSoftware:

operagost:

Even an anti-kickback chain is going to transfer motion to the saw-ee.

100+ pounds would push his neck right through the chain. This is 100% plausible, not sure how you could even attempt to argue this.

I say let's call the Mythbusters dudes.. 

My theory, is that even if the kickback pushes the neck away, it will still have done enough damage to kill the guy.. and the head if not completely severed, it will be hanging by some tendmos and skin... Tom Savini comes to mind... 

Numeromancer:

 

Yea, right.  If this were the case, I find it hard to believe that so many "officials" would be so eager to describe it as "not suspicious".  That seems an odd way to describe it. 

 

Person 1: Are you an alcoholic?

Person 2: No.

Person 1: Aha! Only an alcoholic would try to deny being an alcoholic!

Zagyg:

emurphy:

No, TRWTF is that no one could be arsed to look for other sources reporting the same story.

100% agree.  But surely there is still a WTF here in the way the BBC has chosen to report this?  It seems to me it's rather like reporting, for example, "Man steps in front of bus for no reason!" and neglecting to mention that he was blind and his guide dog had just dropped dead!!

No argument on that point.

As for testing whether the chainsaw-on-a-timer would actually work, Penn & Teller's How to Play with Your Food ought to be a decent starting point.  (They did ballistics testing with melons to debunk the popular "JFK's head jerked back and to the left, so obviously the gunman must have been forward and to the right" theory; what actually happens is that the bullet carries a chunk of flesh with it on exit, causing the rest of the head to equally-and-oppositely react toward the gun.)