Yeah, no kidding. What an odd story on so many levels - why a chainsaw? why would a middle-aged, apartment-dwelling woman even have a chainsaw in the first place? how was she not discovered for so long; running a chainsaw in an apartment would seem to attract a lot of attention. Perplexing . . . and sad.

Geez, why not just do a bottle of pills?

Pssst, pssst, She may have been really pissed off at Herself.

"Do. Or do not. There is no try" - Master Yoda

So she killed herself and then switched off the chainsaw so that neighbors could sleep and then her sister discovered her the next day!! Not saying it cant happen. But a bit difficult to believe sure.

I find it hard to believe. Looks like a whack job to me.

More like a "hack" job.

Interesting point, PJ. There aren't too many details (thankfully) but how did she turn it off after cutting her throat? A chainsaw is going to wreak havoc on the skin I can't imagine her being able to control it well enough to cut 'just' enough so she could turn it off then put it next to her. Was the bed in shreds? How did no one notice a chainsaw going in the apartments next to her? Who knows what happened really but there are a lot of questions.

Most chainsaws require you to hold down a trigger to keep them running, once dead her hands would have released and the chainsaw would have shut off. The chainsaw would have had to have been down right ancient to not have this modern safety feature.

Still seems like a really odd way to commit suicide but the chainsaw could have only been on for less then a second.

This is very sad. Help is always there if you ask

As for chain saws they do make electric ones and these will shut off when the trigger is released.

As for the choice she could have been a country girl trapped in the city

TFNJ

More like a "hack" job.

LMAO absolutely terrible.

WOW, taking mentally disturbed to a whole new level, Probably a electric chainsaw. Their small , cheap, and when you let go of the trigger they stop.

Maybe she wanted the publicity... I mean, if she had run a razor across her wrists it wouldn't make a very good news story.

I guess no one "saw" this coming. *slaps knee*

Thank you!

Another "chain" story on the internet..

This is massively deprived and so utterly sad. The chainsaw was probably to punish her sister for whatever reason. That is a gift for the person that finds you, not for yourself.

As to how she shut off the chainsaw, it's pretty easy to bog a chainsaw and kill the engine by accident, wouldn't be too difficult to make sure the cut was deep enough and the rpm low enough to happen on purpose. As to my qualifications to know this? I'm from Oregon. I owned my first chainsaw at 12.

Seems pretty detached that we can discuss these particulars of a gruesome death. To imagine these plans being set up in her head prior is just so bizarre.

Suicide? By chainsaw?

biker4life, I hope you haven't given this much thought. Knowing how to operate a chain saw is one thing Knowing how to off yourself with it is quite another. Ride my friend enjoy the open road!

Todd you made me LOL thanks!

BS alert. Even with a small chainsaw holding the trigger at that angle and weight would be difficult. Possible yes, probable no.

Gives new meaning to the term "dead man's switch". Or maybe reminds us of the original meaning.

Most women would have chosen something a bit less damaging. Men use chainsaws for other than trimming the bushes, AKA Scar Face. Still if she did do this, she must have been in a lot of pain. Good luck cleaning that up.

Really...a chainsaw

I agree...sounds like someone was really mad at someone else (po-po don't want too do their job?)

I could cut off my legs (pain and bleed out)...but this sounds fishy

Wasn't there access to a tall bridge or building

why would a middle-aged, apartment-dwelling woman even have a chainsaw in the first place?

I'm 23, apartment dwelling, and I have a chainsaw.

mm209 said:

"Most chainsaws require you to hold down a trigger to keep them running, once dead her hands would have released and the chainsaw would have shut off. The chainsaw would have had to have been down right ancient to not have this modern safety feature".

As a 22-year tree service owner, I can say that that is simply not true of any gasoline-powered chainsaw I'm aware of. However, it's obviously true of every electric chainsaw, which is one of the many reasons I suspect that that's what this poor woman used.

Hey honey, would you go next door and get them to turn down their chainsaw.

.

Who woulda thunk it?

Apartment dwellers with chainsaws.

.

If it was a gas saw it very easily could have shut itself off. Neither of mine idle very well until they warm up and will shut off unless I continue to keep the throttle open a little.

I'm 23, apartment dwelling, and I have a chainsaw.

Hahaha. How did I just know a post like this was coming?

Mandy - 23 is not middle-aged . . . unless you're harboring similar plans for your own chainsaw sometime in your forties, which I sincerely hope you're not :-)

Out of curiosity, though, do you generally use your chainsaw around the apartment, or are you perhaps a lumberjack? (haha).

John, "As a 22-year tree service owner, I can say that that is simply not true of any gasoline-powered chainsaw I'm aware of. However, it's obviously true of every electric chainsaw, which is one of the many reasons I suspect that that's what this poor woman used."

I have a Stihl and it runs great but take your finger off the trigger and it will die until it gets REALLY warmed up.

Out of curiosity, though, do you generally use your chainsaw around the apartment, or are you perhaps a lumberjack?

Lol, actually I'm a designer in theatre. Most days I'm doing carpentry. I have a chain saw because I take tools my dad doesn't want anymore that might come in handy. And well... the day we decided we wanted 3 real telephone poles on the set, it came in real handy (lol and no, I didn't cut down random ones, the electric company had a pile of old poles)

Hahaha. How did I just know a post like this was coming?

Because it was silly and I couldn't resist! :-)

Lol, actually I'm a designer in theatre. Most days I'm doing carpentry.

Ah, that makes sense. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity, Mandy . . . though I have to confess that I am (oddly) disappointed you're not a lumberjack ;-)

Because it was silly and I couldn't resist! :-)

Hahaha. An impulse with which I am very familiar.

Haha, I know, being a lumberjack would be pretty fantastic.

I thought you were a badass babe, having your own chainsaw in your apartment.

hahaha, I mean... I have several other kinds of saw too. ;-) I like the saws-all.

I think its time to bow out gracefully here, TMI for me. Have a nice day! Still think you are a badass babe!

haha, thanks roc ;-)

Most chainsaws require you to hold down a trigger to keep them running,

My relatively new chainsaw has a trigger to make the chain rotate but when released it does not kill the engine. And it will idle for quite a while.

Thanks Bubba, no I have given this exactly zero thought other than wondering about her. Life is too good to consider this. I'm hoping to make it to 100, that's my goal anyway.

Thinker- It's true that a chain saw will idle if tuned properly, etc. when the trigger is released. But you can still kill it if there is a load on the chain and the motor is bogged with the centrifugal clutch still engaged. An abrupt throttle closing with the saw in full power cutting mode can do this. It's not as hard as it sounds from my description, especially if the carb needs adjustment which is common if they sit around for long.

But another possibly I had not considered- this could have been an electric chain saw- no where does it specify a gas engine and they are REALLY common at Home Depot, etc. which would seem the sole source for this sort of tool for a person in LA.

Probably watched too many of those Texas Chainsaw Massacres movies....

How do you even start one of those without waking up the neighbors? Plus all that screamin and howlin...that's enough to spook the neighbors into trying to see what the hell's happening!!!!

Thought the same thing Doc. "Lick my head-plate you dog di(k!

c-c-combo breaker

I have to know, did the head come off?

I agree. I mean what woman would kill herself with a chainsaw? This does not sound right.

The chain saw the truth, but don't go barkin' up that tree.

Really? Turn it on and place it against your neck. Not rocket science.

What? Pills and booze not available?

Bluelake, pills and booze have long drawn out reaction time, you get sick, you vomit, you feel terrible. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to die that way.

Bluelake, pills and booze have long drawn out reaction time, you get sick, you vomit, you feel terrible. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to die that way.

Yeah, but you make a prettier corpse that way. Chainsaws and other forms of trauma have a nasty tendency to fling your entrails about the room, and people really do not smell good on the inside. I have a feeling most women, even suicidal ones, are vain enough to be concerned about that sort of thing. No one wants their last impression to be one of poo-flecked intestines strewn about, you know?

OK, I'll buy that but a chainsaw?? Plus, if you are using pills and booze to kill yourself then vomiting and feeling terrible are the least of your problems.

Yeah that room had to be a bloody mess. I'll take the pills, thank you.

Chainsaws and other forms of trauma have a nasty tendency to fling your entrails about the room, and people really do not smell good on the inside. I have a feeling most women, even suicidal ones, are vain enough to be concerned about that sort of thing. No one wants their last impression to be one of poo-flecked intestines strewn about, you know?

Kind of a sexist generalization you've made here, Chris629698. Maybe part of her motive was not only to destroy herself, but to do it in such a way that no one would ever look at her again.

Perhaps you are worried about your appearance after you're dead, but a lot of folks understand that it doesn't matter how you look at that point-- because you are dead!

Pills are actually one of the -worst- ways to go.

It can take days or longer for your body to die depending on the pills taken. Even if you do take something heavy such as pain killers or even heavily controlled substances it's hours of agony as kidneys/liver shut down, possible internal bleeding, convulsions, body pain, severe headaches and even loss of bodily functions.

Sure, it leaves a prettier corpse.

AFTER they've been cleaned up by the medical examiner and funeral home.

Gosh, I feel my depression just flying away like a butterfly on a breeze after reading this article. I've never been depressed enough to take a chainsaw to my neck.

I agree. Sounds fishy to me.

Maybe she was running with the chainsaw and slipped.

Why not? It's quick, and relatively painless, much better off doing it that way than trying to poison herself.

Quick? Maybe.

Painless? Doubtful. Probably one of the most painful ways to go. Cutting off your own head? Disemboweling yourself? Not pleasant. A gun would have been quicker and less painful.

I agree that it sounds fishy.

All I want to know is "who turned the friggin thing off". Kind of need the "paul harvey" on this.

As for the type of suicide, I have a neighbor whose father leaned over a circular saw in his basement to commit suicide. Kids found him when they got home from school. CREEPY!!

Women usually are too vain to chose such a grizzly way to go!!

A modern chainsaw will shut itself off as soon as no one is holding it anymore, many models even require you to actively press and hold down two trigger points for operation.

Maybe the suicide note was a fake and she was murdered.

this is in response to mm209. It is unclear from the article as to which type of chainsaw the woman used, many electric chainsaws may in fact stop spinning the chain when the trigger is released I can't vouch for that because I am inexperienced with their operation. This may explain why no one heard the saw running in this case. However, a chainsaw designed for real outdoor use with a combustion engine will make a lot of noise and if it is properly tuned will continue to run when the trigger is not depressed. The trigger on a gas powered saw is basically an accelarator used for increasing the speed of the chain's revolutions, and many do in fact have a safety lever built into the handle to prevent accidental operation. Even a properly tuned saw will cease running if it's chain becomes bound (in clothing, rope, bed sheets, hair, wire, etc.).

mm209:

"A modern chainsaw will shut itself off as soon as no one is holding it anymore ..."

That is totally false for all gasoline-powered chainsaws I've ever heard of. I suspect that an electric chainsaw was involved.

" ... many models even require you to actively press and hold down two trigger points for operation".

That part is true.

How about sticking to what you know.

My gas Stihl will shut off immediately unless it is actually been used for 3-5 full minutes.

A Los Angeles woman apparently killed herself with a chainsaw in her apartment.

no really,what?

Perhaps her apartment has a fireplace. Or maybe she was just nuts and thought her apartment had a fireplace. Or maybe she was just nuts.

Also standing out to me is that she blocked the door. I don't get why she would bother doing that. Suicide by chainsaw would take seconds. Why bother with blocking a door. She also left a suicide note. The purpose of a note is for others to find. So did she want others to come in and find the note, or did she want them blocked out? Somethings not fitting nicely in this suicide.

Assuming it was suicide I think it's safe to say she wasn't in a right frame of mind to pick death by chainsaw so why should any of those other details make sense to someone else? We'll never know what she was thinking or why she did those things.

Pretty lousy frame up job if it was murder...I mean, if you wanted to kill someone and make it look like suicide, would you do it with a chainsaw? You could maybe make it look like an accident, but pass it off as a suicide with a note and everything? Sorry, I gotta put this one in the "truth is stranger than fiction" category.

This poor lady must have had some intense self-hatred.

Because it was a crime of pasion, spur of the moment. The chainsaw happened to be handy.

But, she WAS home...!

That said, this extremely brief article only creates all kinds of questions. There needs to be a LOT more information than what was produced. So, I'll wait for just that.

Hm...I was thinking more "Dexter"

Nah, it's quite enjoyable.

Yea, it tickles, until your head falls off!

I'm curious, did it say "I am going to chainsaw my head off, I did this to myself".

I know, I feel like such a punk right now.