Well that was interesting reading.
-----Original Message-----
From: RONALD L PRACHT <r.pra...@sbcglobal.net>
To: Quad-list Post <quad-list@eskimo.com>
Sent: Thu, May 21, 2015 2:57 am
Subject: [QUAD-L] interesting crime committed by quad
Quadriplegic Accused as Killer
HOUSTON, Sept. 9— A quadriplegic has been charged here with murdering his
wife of two weeks by using his mouth to yank a string that was attached to the
trigger of a handgun. Witnesses told the police that his wife had placed the
string in his mouth just moments before.
The 37-year-old victim, Bertha Mae Burns, was slain Monday night at a bar
where she and her wheelchair-bound husband, James B. Burns, 40, had been
talking. The police described the weapon that killed her as a 9-millimeter
pistol mounted on a small board that Mr. Burns had across his lap. A string ran
around two small screws in the board, they said, with one end of the string
running to the trigger. A shoebox that had covered the entire apparatus was
removed before the shooting.
Mr. Burns was upset because his wife was planning to live in California and
also because he suspected her of infidelity, the police said.
''According to witnesses, they were sitting there talking in quiet tones,''
said a police detective, A. J. Toepel. ''She then got up and put a string in
his mouth, and he jerked his head back once and the gun went off.'' 'Talked Me
Into Killing Her'
A police sergeant, J C. Mosier, said Mrs. Burns must have placed the string in
her husband's mouth, ''because he couldn't have done it.'' Sergeant Mosier said
Mr. Burns, who was left a quadriplegic when shot several years ago by a
previous wife, had told the police that he had wanted his wife to kill him but
that ''she talked me into killing her.''
However, the sergeant said, Mr. Burns also told the police that he had jerked
his head back only by accident. And in an interview Tuesday with The Houston
Chronicle, Mr. Burns said: ''Somehow the string got pulled. Somehow she pushed
my head back.''
In the interview, Mr. Burns could not explain why three bullets had hit his
wife.
The police have filed a murder charge against Mr. Burns but have not taken him
into custody. Instead, he has been allowed to remain home pending a review of
the case by a judge and is expected to appear in court Thursday.
Ron
