Posted on 09/23/2011 1:10:55 PM PDT by Red Badger
A man who burned to death in his home died as a result of spontaneous combustion, an Irish coroner has ruled.
West Galway coroner Dr Ciaran McLoughlin said it was the first time in 25 years of investigating deaths that he had recorded such a verdict.
Michael Faherty, 76, died at his home at Clareview Park, Ballybane, Galway on 22 December 2010....
Deaths attributed by some to "spontaneous combustion" occur when a living human body is burned without an apparent external source of ignition.
Typically police or fire investigators find burned corpses but no burned furniture.
An inquest in Galway on Thursday heard how investigators had been baffled as to the cause of Mr Faherty's death.
Forensic experts found that a fire in the fireplace of the sitting room where the badly burnt body was found, had not been the cause of the blaze that killed Mr Faherty.
The court was told that no trace of an accelerant had been found and there had been nothing to suggest foul play.
The court heard Mr Faherty had been found lying on his back with his head closest to an open fireplace.
The fire had been confined to the sitting room. The only damage was to the body, which was totally burnt, the ceiling above him and the floor underneath him.
Dr McLoughlin said he had consulted medical textbooks and carried out other research in an attempt to find an explanation.
He said Professor Bernard Knight, in his book on forensic pathology, had written about spontaneous combustion and noted that such reported cases were almost always near an open fireplace or chimney.
"This fire was thoroughly investigated and I'm left with the conclusion that this fits into the category of spontaneous human combustion, for which there is no adequate explanation," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
I’ll have a case of what he was drinking.
A heart attack, maybe, in a sealed room, near an open fireplace? Kind of like smoking brisket in a closet smoker, perhaps?
That's Gaelicist!
It must have been Jameson’s, surely.
It must have been Jameson’s, surely.
Ahhhh... it was the poteen that did it.
Firewater!!
The ceiling above him and the floor underneath him were also burnt. Hmmmmmmm........new carpet.....he was wearing socks......he was doing THE WALL STREET SHUFFLE and he built up so much static electricity that he became a human generator and shorted out when he decided to have a touch of “ta nectar of ta gods” from a metal cup. Case closed. Join us back here next week as Blueunicorn6 solves THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING MARGARITA.
The poor sod made an ash of himself. sd
Burns very slowly but very thoroughly.
Sometimes nothing left but the feet.
She was just saying that to scare you. She really meant just a part of you.
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