It’s not every day you hear about a person dying because of being frightened, but it does happen. Does that person’s death count as murder, though? In Wisconsin, officials are trying to say that is the case.
According to the story, there were four contractors working on a project in a restaurant when armed robbers entered the building. One went after the restaurant’s safe. The other held all four contractors at gunpoint.
One of the workers suffered a medical episode during the hold up. Even though it was clear that his life was in danger, the suspect did not call for help or allow help from the others at the scene. The authorities stated that even in that situation, someone should have been allowed to help the man, since he was in significant medical distress.
Does this truly count as murder? The court has not yet tried the case, and no charges have been filed as of yet. It’s clear that no one injured the man purposefully, but it will be interesting to see if failing to render aid is enough to result in a murder charge in this case. If so, it could change the outcome of cases like this in the future.
If you’re accused in a case like this, it is important to show that you did nothing to injure the person who has been injured or who passed away. There is no way to predict a medical event like a heart attack or stroke, and it may not have been something you did that caused the person’s death.
Source: News Channel 4, KFOR, “Man literally scared to death during armed robbery,” accessed June 30, 2017
