Florida man staged suicide to look like murder by copying CSI plot
- 6 years ago
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA — Police have ruled that a murder case they have been investigating for six months was actually a suicide.
When police found Alan Jay Abrahamson with a gunshot wound to the heart and no weapon in sight, they assumed it was a homicide.
But after a six-month investigation, detectives now believe the he staged the whole thing and took his own life, reports the Palm Beach Post.
They believe the 71-year-old tied a gun to a weather balloon, and used it to shoot himself in the chest. Once he was down, the balloon lifted the gun and carried it several miles offshore, before popping and dropping down into the Atlantic.
Investigators had been baffled by a line of blood that ran from the man's wound to his shoulder, suggesting something thin had been dragged across the shirt.
Abrahamson's emails and search history revealed he'd been researching the scheme for over a decade. Receipts confirmed he'd bought two weather balloons and tanks of helium.
Though far-fetched, the balloon-gun theory had appeared in one episode of CSI, and in one other real-life case, which attempted to copy the plot.
Abrahamson also depleted his retirement fund and made large payments to his life insurance account before his death, which only backed the cops' suspicions.
The case was officially ruled a suicide and is now closed.
When police found Alan Jay Abrahamson with a gunshot wound to the heart and no weapon in sight, they assumed it was a homicide.
But after a six-month investigation, detectives now believe the he staged the whole thing and took his own life, reports the Palm Beach Post.
They believe the 71-year-old tied a gun to a weather balloon, and used it to shoot himself in the chest. Once he was down, the balloon lifted the gun and carried it several miles offshore, before popping and dropping down into the Atlantic.
Investigators had been baffled by a line of blood that ran from the man's wound to his shoulder, suggesting something thin had been dragged across the shirt.
Abrahamson's emails and search history revealed he'd been researching the scheme for over a decade. Receipts confirmed he'd bought two weather balloons and tanks of helium.
Though far-fetched, the balloon-gun theory had appeared in one episode of CSI, and in one other real-life case, which attempted to copy the plot.
Abrahamson also depleted his retirement fund and made large payments to his life insurance account before his death, which only backed the cops' suspicions.
The case was officially ruled a suicide and is now closed.