An elderly man kills roommate over singing. Yes, you read the headline right. 81 year-old William Leo McDougall will be arraigned at a Santa Ana, California, courthouse for the death of his roommate after he killed him for singing in their shared room at a Southern California healthcare center. No word on what song it was.
The LA Times Blog reports on the deadly tunes: “William McDougall was recovering from hip surgery at the Palm Terrace Healthcare Center when he allegedly became angry with Manh Van Nguyen, who had begun singing in Vietnamese.” The 91 year-old Nguyen was also recovering hip surgery when the attack occurred. McDougall repeatedly hit Nguyen with a metal rod from their closet, and Nguyen ultimately died from blunt force trauma later that day.
Roommate disputes happen all the time. Whether one is untidy, doesn’t pay bills on time, or plays music at all hours of the night, fights should never end in a death. The elderly defendant in this bizarre beating broke the law in the most serious way possible, but this case begs the question: what’s the point of locking up an 81 year-old defendant? Perhaps justice is better served putting William McDougall under some form of psychiatric treatment rather than behind bars. In the end, if a man kills his roommate over singing, a possible insanity defense is not out of the picture.
Related Resources:
- Cops: Man, 81, kills roommate over singing (MSNBC)
- Kathleen Hilton Trial Begins: Grandmother Charged with Murder and Arson over Visitation Rights (FindLaw’s Common Law)
- Murder (FindLaw)
- Murder versus Manslaughter (provided by Mark A. Perez, P.C.)
- Classifications of Crime (provided by James D. Garrett & Associates, P.C.)
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