Downstate Decapitation Ruled a Suicide

By Andrew Peerless in News on Apr 15, 2005 3:35PM

There's simply no other way to say it: this story is really horrible. Squeamish readers may wish to skip reading this post and instead gaze at the pretty, pretty weather forecast to the left.

On March 3, 52-year-old James R. Griggs, of Chicago, was found in Manville, IL, decapitated in the driver's seat of his car. The car was stopped in the middle of the road, with brake lights on and the engine still running.

A coroner's inquest on Wednesday night brought the horrible truth aboug Griggs's death to light: he reportedly decapitated himself by tying a metal cable around a bridge post, wrapping it around the opened trunk of his car, threading it around his neck and, finally, accelerating.

Chicagoist is just so horrified at this story... it's such a laborious way to commit suicide, and clearly one that was well planned out. One would hope that, in the amount of time it would take to set up such an elaborite suicide mechanism, Mr. Griggs would have an opportunity to see the value in his life.

That said, Chicagoist does not tend to have suicidal thoughts, so we clearly cannot relate to Mr. Griggs's state of mind, but urges anyone feeling like they may want to do harm to themselves to contact Illinois' In-Touch Hotline at 312.966.5535.