A 79-year-old North Carolina woman dies after a heart attack brought on by terror
By Coco Ballantyne
Originally Published: January 30, 2009
A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death.
In an attempt to elude cops after a botched bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into and hid out in the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn't touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was triggered by terror.
Can the fugitive be held responsible for the woman's death?
Prosecutors said that he can under the state's so-called felony murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person's death while committing or fleeing from a felony crime such as robbery—even if it's unintentional.
But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin A. Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Is it possible to literally be scared to death?
Absolutely, no question about it.
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STORY CONTINUES:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=scared-to-death-heart-attack
© 1996-2009 Scientific American Inc. All Rights Reserved.
By Coco Ballantyne
Originally Published: January 30, 2009
A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death.
In an attempt to elude cops after a botched bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into and hid out in the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn't touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was triggered by terror.
Can the fugitive be held responsible for the woman's death?
Prosecutors said that he can under the state's so-called felony murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person's death while committing or fleeing from a felony crime such as robbery—even if it's unintentional.
But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin A. Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Is it possible to literally be scared to death?
Absolutely, no question about it.
_________
STORY CONTINUES:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=scared-to-death-heart-attack
© 1996-2009 Scientific American Inc. All Rights Reserved.
