How NOT to safeguard your house - Page 2

9mmHP · September 26, 2007, 09:03 AM

It's an AMH (abandoned and malignant heart) murder case, usually defined as:

the defendant:

1) while engaged in a grossly reckless act;

2) unintentionally;

3) caused the death of another;

4) and in causing the death did so with extreme indifference for the value of human life and the safety of others.

cz223 · October 7, 2007, 08:16 AM

Since we are talking about booby traps I have a story to share as well. Here in Maine there are a lot of people who have camps in VERY rural areas and those camps are usually empty for long stretches of time, most often in the winter. These camps are usually easy targets for thieves. I once had a friend who had a camp in very northern Maine and it had been broken into several times and he had just gotten tired of it. He decided to take matters into his own hands. He boarded over the windows so that anyone breaking in would either stop or go through the door which he had padlocked as well as deadbolted. Just inside the door he had mounted a metal plate, with a coil spring welded to it, to the wall. Inside the the coil spring he placed a 3' length of 4x4 that he had rounded the end of so it would fit in the coil. He then mounted a catch/release mechanism that he had fashioned from a gate latch 3' away on the same wall. To this he attached a lenth of steel cable with a small piece of L-bracket welded to it. When he left for the season he simply wound the 4x4 back to the catch on the wall and ran the cable along the floor which he secured in place using a cople of electricians stapes. The cable length was adjusted so that the door would hit the pice of L-bracket/trigger when the door was opened app. 2/3 of the way or about 60 degrees. This would allow him to pen the door and slip through without setting off the trap but would set the trap off if someome busted through the door. This whole mechanism was set about 12" off the floor so that it would hit the intruder below the knees, ouch! Before he left he hung a sign on the door that said, Enter at own risk, which was there as a warning as well as a reminder to himself. He returned there that winter to find the door open, the trap sprung and a bloody trail through the snow. Apparently two people had tried to break in a day or so before and he was able to follow the trail to where they had parked the car. Later that week he was in town, a very small town by the way, and he saw a man walking on crutches with casts on both legs. He walked up to the guy and introduced himself and the other man did the same at which point my friend says, you wouldn't have any idea who broke into my camp would you, he is probably walking with a bit of a limp.

His camp did not get broken into after that.

October 7, 2007, 08:16 AM	#27
cz223 Senior Member Join Date: September 17, 2006 Location: Maine Posts: 118	Don't do this either Since we are talking about booby traps I have a story to share as well. Here in Maine there are a lot of people who have camps in VERY rural areas and those camps are usually empty for long stretches of time, most often in the winter. These camps are usually easy targets for thieves. I once had a friend who had a camp in very northern Maine and it had been broken into several times and he had just gotten tired of it. He decided to take matters into his own hands. He boarded over the windows so that anyone breaking in would either stop or go through the door which he had padlocked as well as deadbolted. Just inside the door he had mounted a metal plate, with a coil spring welded to it, to the wall. Inside the the coil spring he placed a 3' length of 4x4 that he had rounded the end of so it would fit in the coil. He then mounted a catch/release mechanism that he had fashioned from a gate latch 3' away on the same wall. To this he attached a lenth of steel cable with a small piece of L-bracket welded to it. When he left for the season he simply wound the 4x4 back to the catch on the wall and ran the cable along the floor which he secured in place using a cople of electricians stapes. The cable length was adjusted so that the door would hit the pice of L-bracket/trigger when the door was opened app. 2/3 of the way or about 60 degrees. This would allow him to pen the door and slip through without setting off the trap but would set the trap off if someome busted through the door. This whole mechanism was set about 12" off the floor so that it would hit the intruder below the knees, ouch! Before he left he hung a sign on the door that said, Enter at own risk, which was there as a warning as well as a reminder to himself. He returned there that winter to find the door open, the trap sprung and a bloody trail through the snow. Apparently two people had tried to break in a day or so before and he was able to follow the trail to where they had parked the car. Later that week he was in town, a very small town by the way, and he saw a man walking on crutches with casts on both legs. He walked up to the guy and introduced himself and the other man did the same at which point my friend says, you wouldn't have any idea who broke into my camp would you, he is probably walking with a bit of a limp. His camp did not get broken into after that.

September 26, 2007, 09:03 AM	#26
9mmHP Senior Member Join Date: February 14, 2007 Location: Indiana/Indpls Metro Area Posts: 318	It's an AMH (abandoned and malignant heart) murder case, usually defined as: the defendant: 1) while engaged in a grossly reckless act; 2) unintentionally; 3) caused the death of another; 4) and in causing the death did so with extreme indifference for the value of human life and the safety of others.